Mangaluru : A group of four to five persons have been accused of abusing and thrashing a male college student inside a private bus and forcing him to alight from the bus for travelling regularly with a girl student of another faith in the city.

The girl travelling with him is said to be his classmate. It is said, The attackers were from a Hindutva group.

In a complaint filed with the Mangaluru East Police, the victim Sayyed Rasheem Umar, 20, a student at a private education institute in Karkala, Udupi district said he was travelling in Padmambika bus from Karkala to Mangaluru via Nitte when the group of men suddenly rushed into the bus at about 4 p.m. at Nanthoor Junction in the city. The group also abused him, issued a life threat if he revealed the matter to anybody and forced him to alight from the bus. They thrashed him using canes and sticks, the student said.

The police have registered a case in this connection under Sections 323, 324, 504, 506 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code and are searching for the accused.

Responding to a tweet on the same incident, the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Alok Kumar tweeted on November 25: “Appropriate action is being taken regarding the incident.”