Karnataka cop attacked by ganja sellers critical, airlifted to Bengaluru for treatment

A police official from Karnataka’s Kalaburagi who was critically injured after a group of marijuana growers allegedly attacked him was airlifted to Bengaluru for treatment on Monday, September 26. Circle Inspector of Police Sreemanth Illal, who had led a team of police personnel to a location where marijuana was being grown illegally on the Karnataka-Maharashtra border in Bidar district as part of an investigation on September 23, was allegedly attacked by a group of over 40 marijuana growers. The CI suffered fractures in the ribs and his lung was also damaged in the assault, The Hindu reported.

After receiving initial care at a community hospital in Basavakalyan, he was transferred to a super-specialty hospital for trauma and critical care in Kalaburagi. He was later airlifted to Bengaluru on Monday to be treated at Manipal Hospitals. “He was transported in an ambulance to the airport and was airlifted from there,” said Kalaburagi district Superintendent of Police (SP) Isha Pant. Vehicles were cleared from the highway to make room for the ambulance. When the special flight left for Bengaluru, Lok Sabha representative from Kalaburagi Umesh Jadhav, Gulbarga Rural MLA Basavaraj Mattimadu, and SP Isha Pant were present at the airport in Kalaburagi, according to The Hindu.

Speaking about the attack on September 23, a police official from Kalaburagi told TNM that the Kalaburagi police had detained a few marijuana sellers earlier this week, and the visit to the location on the Maharashtra border was part of the investigation in the case.” Since it was near the border and we were traversing Karnataka farmland, we failed to alert the local police. Suddenly, however, people from a farm in Maharashtra arrived and attacked the police officers. A few of our officers managed to flee, although several of them were hurt,” said the police official.