Five people said to be from the Indian Air Force, allegedly assaulted a policeman and a toll booth guard on NICE Road, North Bengaluru, on Saturday. Police claimed the "IAF men" wanted to be exempted from paying the toll.
The incident occurred at Madavara in Madanayakanahalli police station limits around 11 pm after the men drove in.
When the toll booth staff asked them to pay the toll, they said they were from the IAF. When the security staff asked to see their ID, they allegedly got into an argument and assaulted a guard named Annayappa, police quoted Erappa N, a toll booth staffer, as saying.
The security alerted police constable Yathish and home guard Rajkumar, who were guarding a Covid-19 checkpoint close-by. The two officers rushed to the spot and tried to talk to the IAF men. But things went out of hand. A member of the group pinned Yathish while others kicked and punched him in the face, police said, quoting Erappa.
The constable's screams drew other employees of the toll booth as well as a few motorists. The group, however, managed to escape.
Police said a case had been taken up against the five men, who were identified as Anand, 30, Vijay Patil, 29, Arun Patil, 30, Rajashekhar, 35, and Sathish, 30, all residents of Jalahalli.