Bengaluru: In a road-rage incident, a 26-year-old bouncer allegedly intercepted a couple travelling in their car on Sarjapur Road in southeastern Bengaluru, plucked the wiper and smashed the windshield.
The incident unfolded on Monday around 10.30 pm on the Carmelaram flyover in Bellandur. The couple had their nine-month-old baby on board, on the backseat, during the incident.
In a swift action, Bellandur police arrived at the location and arrested the suspect, identified as Naveen Reddy, 26, a bouncer at a pub in Koramangala. A video of the incident has gone viral on social media.
As per the video, Reddy approaches the car and attempts to open the door while the couple inside the car takes the video on their phones. Infuriated by failing to open the door, Reddy picks up a stone from the ground and threatens to shatter the glass even as the couple in the car scream — ‘Baccha hai, Baccha hai,’ (there is baby on board).
Passersby stop their vehicle and hold Reddy. However, he frees himself, plucks a wiper and wields it at the windshield twice.
DH accessed footage of the car’s rear camera, which showed the crash before the incident. Reddy, weaving through traffic on the flyover, crashed into the car and fell down. He got up and walked up to the car as the complainant stopped it a few metres away.
A senior police officer overseeing the case said Reddy was drunk and triggered by the crash before the altercation.
“He claimed that the car driver didn’t switch on the indicator but swerved to the left, causing him to crash into the car. He was triggered because the couple went ahead without stopping and despite crashing into the car,” the officer told DH.
The officer noted that the couple inside the car suffered minor scratches from the shattering of the glass.
Following reports about Reddy being booked for attempted murder, the officer clarified that the claims were false.
Bellandur police have opened an FIR under BNS sections 126(2) (wrongful restraint), 324(4) (mischief and thereby causes loss or damage to the amount of twenty thousand rupees and more but less than one lakh rupees), and 351(2) (criminal intimidation).
Published 20 August 2024, 22:23 IST