Karnataka High Court Grants Bail To Accused In Alleged Mob Lynching Over Pro-Pakistan Slogans During Cricket Match

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday (May 7) granted bail to one of the accused in alleged mob-lynching of a man from Kerala who purportedly chanted pro-Pakistan slogans at a cricket stadium in Mangalore's Kudupu Village last year. 

The single judge bench of V Srishananda passed the order granting bail to the third accused- Manjunatha Mallikarjuna.

The court directed the accused to be released from the custody upon furnishing a bail bond of Rs 1 Lakh along with two sureties to the like sum. Senior Counsel Aruna Shyam appeared for the petitioner-accused.

A detailed copy of the order is awaited. 

The Mangaluru Rural Police Station had filed an FIR against 20 persons, allegedly part of the mob, for offences under Sections 103(2) (murder), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 189(2)/(4) (unlawful assembly), 191(2)/(3) (rioting), 238, 239, 240 (causing disappearance of evidence, false information, etc.), 352 (criminal intimidation) r/w 190 (common object) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

The 32-year-old accused has been in judicial custody since April 29, 2025, in connection with the mob-lynching of Mohammed Ashraf at Kudupu, Mangaluru, on April 27, 2025.

According to the Prosecution's version, during a local cricket tournament at Managaluru, the victim, who was a rag picker from Kerala, allegedly chanted Pakistan slogans that triggered players and spectators. The accused persons allegedly stripped the deceased and assaulted him with sticks and other objects, as a result of which he succumbed to death.

Manjunatha, the third accused, had allegedly brought chilli powder and applied it to victim's exposed wounds and private parts. Manjunatha is also accused of filing a false Unnatural Death Report (UDR) for misleading the police initially.

The trial court at Mangaluru had earlier [December 2025] rejected Manjunath's bail application after observing that he had played an 'active role' in the crime along with other considerations such as the seriousness of the offence, potential witness tampering etc., among others.

Before the High Court, the accused had argued that 17 persons out of the 21 accused have already been released on bail (except the first accused). The further contentions by the accused primarily centred around the lack of pre meditation and the spontaneous, 'spur of the moment' nature of the incident assuming that the crime had occurred.

The petition also challenged the custodial incarceration for over a year when the trial has not yet commenced, inordinate delay of 32 hours in registering the FIR and the police not serving him the grounds of arrest. In the plea, the petitioner also pointed to the post mortem report which did not indicate any chilli powder residue on the victim's body.

According to the third accused, he or the other accused were not aware of the religious identity of the deceased.

Case Title: Manjunatha v. State of Karnataka

Case No: CRL.P 6850/2026