Several violent incidents kept police busy over the holiday weekend, including a bus hijacking, a downtown street brawl in Oslo and a case in Nord-Trøndelag involving what police described as torture.
The victim in the torture case was a man from Lithuania who was found beaten and hanging upside down at the farm when he lived and worked in the small community of Bjørndalen. The owner of the farm had looked for him after noticing that he hadn’t carried out his work in the barn.
Police believe the man may have been hanging as long as eight to 10 hours before being found. He was rushed by air ambulance to St Olav’s Hospital in Trondheim where injuries to the muscles in his hands and feet were described as serious.
Police told news bureau NTB they were unable to question the victim until his condition improved. Neighbours were questioned, reported local newspaper Trønder-Avisa, but were unable to offer much information.
Intoxicated hijacker
In Romerike north of Oslo, meanwhile, an intoxicated 42-year-old man hijacked a bus late Sunday night after threatening its driver by claiming he had both a pistol and a hand grenade. Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that the driver and 10 passengers on board fled the bus at the local terminal at Olavsgaard in Skjetten, Akershus County and called police.
Ola Magne Mæle of the Romerike Police District told local newspaper Romerikes Blad that the man tried to start the bus but didn’t get far because he was unable to operate the large vehicle. When police arrived, he refused to turn over the bus. “We had to break a window and use pepper spray to gain control over the man,” Mæle said.
The man had neither a pistol nor a hand grenade but police did find him in possession of narcotics. He remained in custody at Lillestrøm on Monday.
Street brawl led to stabbing
Police had no suspects in custody following a reported street brawl Friday night in downtown Oslo. Reports varied over how many persons were involved, ranging from 10 to 40.
The incident left one man, an asylum seeker from Africa, with serious stabbing wounds. He was recovering at Ullevål Hospital in Oslo and told police on Sunday that he’d been stopped on the street by a large group of Asians, possibly from Pakistan.
“He said they started asking him several questions, but that nothing he said would suggest he’d be attacked,” operations leader Per Olav Utgaard of the Oslo Police District told NTB. The brawl took place between Storgata and Calmeyers gate shortly before 11pm.
Views and News from Norway/Nina Berglund
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