Mangaluru (The Hindu): The Mangaluru City Police on Wednesday arrested one man in connection with a stabbing reported in Ullal police limits on Monday. They are looking for the others involved in the incident, apart from two other cases of stabbing reported on Tuesday.

Police Commissioner M. Chandra Sekhar said the police would not tolerate any trouble, especially when innocents are targeted. Even fisherman Raju Kotian, who was stabbed to death on April 12 and whose murder is believed to have sparked off the tension, too was an innocent, he said. The commissioner promised to get to “the root of the matter” and nab the ring leader, if there is one, behind the attacks.

According to the police, the arrested man is Shivaraj alias Shiva (18), son of Kamalaksha of Krishnanagar, Kumpala. He, along with four or five others, had allegedly stabbed Ibrahim Nasfan, who was going to work at the Mangaluru fishing harbour, early on Monday morning.

A special team under Assistant Commissioner of Police (South) R.R. Kalyana Shetty has been formed to investigate the Nasfan case, as well as the two subsequent stabbing cases, Mr. Sekhar said. The police suspect Shiva was involved in the Tuesday morning attack in Tokkottu as well.

More than 600 policemen, including those from the Karnataka State Reserve Police, the Karnataka State Industrial Security Force and others, have been posted in sensitive areas in Ullal police limits. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure have been clamped for a week.

Old cases not cracked

Meanwhile, the commissioner admitted that the police have been unable to trace the man who had indulged in sporadic stabbing incidents in Ullal police limits last year. But the investigation is still open and the police are confident of nabbing them eventually, he added.

When asked about the absence of a full-time police inspector at Ullal for the last four months, Mr. Sekhar said it is up to the government to appoint one. Temporarily, the Panambur police inspector is in charge of Ullal station, he said.