Cafe owner behind road-rage shooting in Mathikere, booked for attempt murder

The Audi driver who fired at a motorcyclist in road rage in North Bengaluru’s Mathikere on Wednesday night is the owner of a popular cafe located in the same area, police say.

Ravish Gowda, 44, was arrested by Yeshwantpur police from an apartment in RMV 2nd Stage on Thursday. He has been booked for attempted murder (IPC section 307), voluntarily causing hurt (section 323) and under the Arms Act. A local court has remanded him in judicial custody.

Police said that Gowda went absconding after having fired at Anil Kumar, 29, in front of an ICICI Bank ATM near the back gate of MS Ramaiah College on Mathikere Main Road around 8.50 pm on Wednesday. Nobody was hurt as the bullet missed the target, police added.

Gowda’s eatery, World Brew Cafe, is located just a stone’s throw away from this place.

Quoting Gowda, Kumar and eyewitnesses, a police officer narrated to DH how the incident unfolded:

Kumar, an ambulance driver at MS Ramaiah Memorial Hospital, and a friend named Sadiq were on their way to the Yeshwantpur railway station to run an errand at the time of the incident.

As Kumar rode into the narrow road in front of the ATM, he saw an Audi coming in the opposite direction. The driver was “very slow” and had “obstructed” traffic. Kumar got angry and pulled into the middle of the road, setting up a showdown with the car driver.

Gowda, driving the Audi, rolled down the car’s side windows, and got into an argument with Kumar. Things escalated soon, and Gowda slapped Kumar in the face. The latter hit back.

Gowda got off the car and punched Kumar in the stomach. He then swung back into the car, grabbed a gun and tried to shoot Kumar point-blank.

Kumar was alert enough to block Gowda’s arm. The bullet was fired into the air. When Gowda tried to fire once more, Kumar again shoved up his arm. The gun misfired. Gowda ran into the car and sped off.

Kumar was in a hurry to get to the railway station but returned to the spot soon after and called the police.

Gowda says it all started when Kumar rode his bike rashly and hit his car. Both of them beat up each other. The situation went out of hand. He went back to the car, grabbed his gun and fired at Kumar.

Gowda told the police that he fired from his licensed gun, and has produced an arms licence and other relevant documents.

“We found an empty cartridge and a live bullet on the crime scene. A bullet fired at the biker didn’t hit him as Gowda failed to aim properly. We don’t know how a live bullet fell at the spot. If it was a misfire, we will get to know in the forensic report,” the officer explained.

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