An ugly scuffle broke out between some employees of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) and Karnataka State Industrial Security Force (KSISF) constables guarding the Central College Metro station over running the former through security check on Thursday morning.
The unsavoury incident resulted in an FIR being lodged against five BMRCL employees for assaulting three KSISF personnel, including a woman, and a silent protest by Metro staff against the “high-handedness” of the security force.
Anand Guddad, Lakshman and Bharathi (woman security officer) were on duty at the City Civil Court entrance of the Metro station when they were reportedly assaulted by Rakesh, an electronic maintenance staffer with the BMRCL, and four of his colleagues.
According to police, a few members of the maintenance staff refused to run their baggage through the scanner as they report for work every day.
At 6.10 am on Thursday, Rakesh arrived at the City Civil Court entrance and refused to run his bag through the scanner. He argued with Guddad that he was a BMRCL employee, not a commuter. A heated argument ensued when Guddad insisted that he run his bag through the scanner. The two men abused each other, and Rakesh walked off without running his bag through the scanner. Guddad confronted him on the stairs and slapped him, leading to a fisticuff. Guddad’s two colleagues then took him away.
Around 9.40 am, Rakesh came to the entrance along with five of his colleagues and beat up Guddad and two other guards. Police rushed to the spot after being informed and took both the sides to the Halasuru Gate police station.
Guddad filed a complaint of assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty and rioting against Rakesh and others. “We have registered an FIR and are in the process of identifying who were all involved in the assault based on the video footage we have obtained,” said Chandragupta, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central).
Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) personnel were deployed near all Metro stations in central Bengaluru as a precautionary measure.
Published 06 July 2017, 19:35 IST