Virajpet: A miscreant, who barged into a house at Nalkeri village near Srimangala in South Kodagu, allegedly assaulted a man with a knife before fleeing from the spot. The incident took place on Tuesday afternoon.

The man, who sustained injuries on his left hand is Sullimada Gopal Thimmaiah, a coffee planter and former President of Ponnampet Kodava Samaja.

On Tuesday at about 2 pm, when Gopal Thimmaiah and his wife were in the house, the miscreant, who was wearing a mask, barged into the house and Gopal’s wife, shocked on seeing the intruder inside the house, called her husband, who was in the other room. But the intruder, barged into the room, threatened by showing a knife and tried to assault Gopal.

But Gopal, who resisted being assaulted, picked up a wooden stick and tried to put up a fight in a bid to send the intruder out of the house. But the miscreant tried to stab Gopal on his neck and when Gopal resisted, he sustained deep injury on his left hand.

Despite sustaining a deep cut on his hand with blood oozing from the gash, Gopal continued to fight the intruder with the stick. Meanwhile, his (Gopal) wife began to scream for help and the intruder fled from the house.

Gopal then called up his brother’s son Col. Dr. Dilan Bheemaiah, an Army Officer, over the phone, who had come to the village on leave. Col. Dr. Dilan, who rushed to Gopal’s house, provided first-aid and got him admitted to a private hospital at Gonikoppa.

According to Gopal’s wife, the same person had come to the house last year and she had seen him pressing the calling bell. When she questioned the person through the window, the stranger had not replied and suspecting something fishy, she called the estate workers, during which the stranger had fled into the estate.

Virajpet Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dy.SP) Jayakumar, who visited the hospital where Gopal Thimmaiah is admitted, collected information from Gopal Thimmaiah about the incident.

A case has been registered at Kutta Police Station.