Man's head crushed under stone on first night of three-day festival at world heritage site teeming with VVIPs, over a lakh visitors and 4,000 policemen
Man's head crushed under stone on first night of three-day festival at world heritage site teeming with VVIPs, over a lakh visitors and 4,000 policemen
A Visitor was murdered in Hampi, where 4,000 policemen were camped as Union Home Minister P Chidambaram flagged off celebrations on the first day of Hampi Utsav. The police have no suspects yet.
Identity crisis
Aged about 25, the dead man was found with his head crushed under a large carved stone near Hema Koota hill, just about 200 metres from the main dais where most of the events are taking place.
With the victim's head badly damaged, the police are finding it difficult to identify him. His personal effects have yielded few clues.
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"It is one of the busiest places in Hampi, as tourists visit this place to see the sunset," said a resident of Hospet, requesting anonymity. "It's quite shocking as the body has been found not very far from the main dais."
The incident comes as yet another setback to the district administration after Bellary's Gandhinagar building collapse, which, with over 15 deaths, cast a shadow over the 500th anniversary celebrations of revered Vijayanagara King Krishnadevaraya's coronation and the Hampi Utsav.
Visitors scared
The murder on the very first day of the three-day festival has scared visitors, who have come from all over the globe to the Unesco World Heritage Site. The festival was inaugurated on Wednesday, January 27, and is to culminate today, January 29.
"It's shocking and unfortunate that we are not secure at even festivals of this kind, which are conducted by the state government," said H Mahesh, a visitor.
Earlier on the day of the murder, several dignitaries, including Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, had flagged off the celebrations.
While Hampi attracts an average of 10,000 tourists, both Indians and foreigners, on normal days in January, now because of the Hampi Utsav it is expecting nearly two lakh visitors every day. The first day saw over a lakh visitors.
Big police presence
Adequate security arrangements have been made for the festival.
While 100 personnel of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) guard Hampi along with about 100 'Green Police' personnel, over 4,000 personnel of the state police have been deputed to maintain law and order and ensure safety of visitors.
"I don't understand what the police are doing," said Mahesh. "This is certainly disturbing news for those planning a visit on one of these three days."
The police remained tight-lipped about the case, not saying anything on the direction of the investigation.
"We have conducted the post-mortem and are still unable to gather details pertaining to the identity of the deceased," said Sudhakar, police sub-inspector, Hampi. "This is all the information I can share now."
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