Thousands pay homage to daredevil policeman killed in action

Tension prevailed here as the body of Sub-Inspector Mallikarjun Bande killed in an encounter with a notorious criminal was laid to rest at his village in the district today with thousands mourners paying homage to him.
Gulbarga city observed a bandh with normal life paralysed as people staged protests accusing the government of not doing enough to save the life of Bande (40), who succumbed to bullet wounds at a hospital in Hyderabad yesterday.
Bande,the daredevil police official,suffered bullet injuries in an encounter here with alleged notorious criminal Munna Darbar, who was shot dead on January eight.
He was shifted to Hyderabad after he underwent surgery for removal of two bullets in his head in a hospital at Gulbarga.

As Home Minister K J George was returning after attending the funeral of Bande at his village, Kajuri, an angry mob pelted stones at his car, but he escaped unhurt, police said.
Another minister Qamarul Islam was also stopped by an agitated crowd from proceeding to Kajuri.

Schools, colleges and commercial establishments were closed and vehicles were off the roads in Gulbarga in response to a bandh call given by the BJP to protest against government's alleged "negligence" towards Bande's treatment.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said yesterday that they did not shift Bande to London for better treatment on doctors' advice.

Bande's wife Mallamma had requested the government to airlift her husband to the hospital in London that treated iconic Pakistan schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, who received a similar injury, when the Taliban shot her in the head.
George said the government had decided to provide Rs 50 lakh as compensation to the family of deceased police official, who had become popular for taking on the criminals.