Mangaluru: Two victims from Bunder and Kandathpalli, who suffered bullet injuries when police opened fire to disperse a violent mob protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) near Bunder police station, succumbed in a private hospital on Thursday.

Mangaluru Commissioner of Police Dr P S Harsha did not confirm the death when DH made attempts to contact him.

Earlier, the Commissioner had defended their decision to open fire on the mob as being in `self-defence’. “In order to prevent the unruly mob from torching the Bunder police station with its police personnel, the police in self-defense were forced to open fire on the advancing mob,” Mangaluru Commissioner of Police Dr Harsha told mediapersons on Thursday evening.

“Left with no options, the police in self-defence used force to disperse the mob. After the deployment of force, mob fled from the area. The condition of eight among 20 personnel injured in attacks by the mob was said to be critical,” Dr Harsha informed. 

The Commissioner said the mob which dispersed from Hamilton circle near DC office regrouped near Bunder police station. The mob armed with stones, iron rods, bottles and sticks attempted to set the police station on fire. When tear gas failed to disperse the mob, police fired two rounds in the air. The mob paying no heed to the repeated warnings begun assaulting the eight to 10 police personnel inside the police station.

During the assault DCP (Law and Order) Arunangshu Giri’s hand was chopped and DCP Lakshmi Ganesh K (Crime and traffic) sustained multiple fractures in his feet when miscreants dropped huge boulders on his feet.