Ten policemen were among the many people who sustained severe injuries in a massive bee attack in Bengaluru on Thursday, March 10. The impact was such that two policemen had to be admitted to the itensive care unit (ICU) of a nearby hospital. A large number of police personnel were deputed at Freedom Park as a number of organisations were staging a protest there.Suddenly, thousands of honey bees flew into the area where they were standing and attacked people. According to the police, the incident took place before the protests started at the Freedom Park, else it would have been a disaster as the premises can accommodate thousands of people.A number of police were deployed at the venue after the Karnataka High Court’s observations on public protests in the city. The High Court had taken the police department and the state government to task for allowing protest marches in the city. The court had directed to limit the protests to the Freedom Park premises and ensure that no trouble is caused to vehicle riders. Bengaluru DCP (West) Sanjeev Patil said that on Thursday, when the police were ensuring arrangements ahead of the protests, a big swarm of honey bees attacked the police officials and the ‘bandobast’ staff present there. The police teams included female police officers. Many tried to run for cover but 10 policement sustained sting injuries. One inspector and eight other police personnel have been admitted to Srinivasa hospital in Bengaluru. Two of them are in the intensive care unit.  It is yet to be ascertained whether the honey bees attacked naturally or it was a deliberate act by some miscreants, DCP Patil said.
