Daijiworld Media Network – Beltangady (SP)
Beltangady, Jun 14: The police and the curious public remain clueless as of now about incidents leading to the unnatural death of Mahesh Naik (24), son of Manjappa Naik, from Kabubuttiyar House in Ujire village. It may be recalled that Naik's body was found lying in the agricultural fields owned by Babu Gowda near Ichchavupadavu in Ujire.
Mahesh was an active youth, who kept himself busy in masonry and painting works. Although he consumed some liquor often, he used to work hard.
A hand of Naik was found to have been cut off with a sharp weapon. Electric cable drawn from a nearby pump shed was found lying near his body, which was lying face down. Initial opinion that he was electrocuted.
The investigation into this case is led by police circle inspector, Lingappa Poojary,and sub-inspector, Prakash Devadiga. They have been told by the family of Naik that Mahesh had left home on Thursday night along with Rajesh and two other friends for catching fish from agricultural fields, which is a common practice among rural youth during monsoon months. Fish which get washed into the fields alongwith water overflowing from the river are caught with the help of sharp objects after freezing their movement with the help of torch lights. The youth too, it is said, had sharp weapons with them. When walking through the fields in the dark, Mahesh failed to notice that a trap for wild boar duly connected to power source was laid.
The police have been told during their questioning that when Naik shouted after suffering shock waves, his friend swished his weapon to severe the power cable, but the weapon missed the target and instead hit Mahesh's hand as it was night. The injury mark on the hand looks like it was burnt.
The police are not clear whether this case falls under accident or murder, as the murder was not committed purposefully. But the youth involved failed to report the matter to the police forthwith. There is no confusion about the fact that the trap was connected to power supply, and Mescom registered a case on the concerned and disconnected power supply, after assistant executive engineer, Hemachandra, visited the spot and inspected the situation.
A clear picture will emerge once the police conclude their questioning. The family of Naik said he had left home with a torch tied to his head on Thursday night for catching fish. As he did not return, they thought he had chosen to stay at Rajesh's home. At 8.45 am on Friday, Rajesh conveyed the news of Mahesh's death to Mohan Naik, a relative of Mahesh, it is gathered.
Some doubts remain to be be cleared in the case. There was no blood in the wound on the hand. It was evident that blood had oozed out of the youth's ears. His footwear were placed the wrong way near his body. The power cable appeared to have been forcibly inserted into the wound, unlike normal cases. Some expressed doubts that he would have been murdered elsewhere, before being dumped in the field. The suspicions got further boost because of the fact that the weapon found at the spot of the incident was not smeared with blood.
Because of the paucity of police personnel to prepare relevant papers for conducting postmortem at Mangalore, the body of Naik, which was recovered on Friday morning, was found to have been kept waiting in an ambulance parked in front of the local police station till evening.