Sreemanth Illal, Circle Inspector of Police who was injured in an attack by a gang of ganja smugglers on the Karnataka-Maharashtra border in Bidar district on September 23, was air-lifted to Bengaluru on the morning of September 26.
He was taken to the airport in an ambulance. The roads were cleared of vehicles to facilitate the movement of the ambulance.
Dr. Umesh Jadhav, Lok Sabha member from Kalaburagi, Basavaraj Mattimadu, MLA for Gulbarga Rural, and Superintendent of Police Isha Pant were present at Kalaburagi airport when the special flight took off for Bengaluru.
Mr. Illal was assaulted by a gang of over 40 ganja smugglers near a village, on the Karnataka-Maharashtra border, in Bidar district late on Friday when he led a team of police officers to the spot where marijuana (ganja) was illegally cultivated. After preliminary treatment at a local hospital in Basavakalyan, he was shifted to United Hospital, a super-specialty hospital for accident, trauma and critical care, in Kalaburagi on September 24.
Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra had directed Kalaburagi Superintendent of Police Isha Pant to air-lift the injured officer to Bengaluru, or Hyderabad, for better treatment. The doctors at United Hospital had, however, advised against immediate shifting as the patient’s health parameters had not stabilised. The shifting was, therefore, put on hold for two days.
