Three thrash bus driver for not letting them overtake

The city police arrested three people in a road rage incident, where the men assaulted the driver and conductor of a Kerala State Transport Corporation bus.

The incident happened in the early hours on Saturday near the Jnanabharathi railway station. The police said the arrested men — Vishwanath alias Vishwa, Deepak and Harish — are in their early 20s, living in Udyaynagar in KR Puram.

The Kerala bus bearing the registration number KL-15-A-1986 driven by Anil Kumar left on an overnight journey to Bengaluru from Kozhikode at 8 pm on November 23. The bus reached the Jnanabharathi railway station around 5.45 am on Saturday and was navigating the service lane at a lower speed. A Toyota Innova behind the bus kept honking for space to overtake, but the bus driver could not move sideways in the narrow lane.

When the road broadened, the bus driver moved to allow passage for the MUV. But the vehicle waylaid the bus and three men, including its driver, emerged with a jack rod. They abused Kumar and hauled him out of the driver's seat and Vishwanath smashed his head with the rod.

Kumar, who sustained severe head injuries, was taken to a private hospital and the passengers were shifted to another KSRTC bus coming from behind.

Later, the bus crew reported the incident at the Kerala transport office at the Mysuru Satellite bus station. A staff member, identified as Sunil Kumar, filed a complaint with the Jnanabharathi police.

The police booked the three men under IPC Sections 341 (assault), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of duty), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace).

They traced the men using the MUV's registration number and arrested them. Vishwanath supplies drinking water cans, Deepak is a flower vendor and Harish is a carpenter. They had visited Vishwanath's hometown in Mandya for a Karthika temple festival and were returning to Bengaluru when the incident happened.

The three were produced before a magistrate and remanded to judicial custody.