Drivers assaulted by road ragers in Banashankari

At least two BMTC drivers were at the receiving end of verbal and physical abuse in road rage incidents in southern Bengaluru's Banashankari in the past fortnight.

Ravi B S (38), driving a bus to Majestic from Banashankari, was intercepted and assaulted by three men on the busy KR Road around 8 pm on June 11. The men, riding a scooter, were trying to overtake the bus from the left, but Ravi apparently gave them no room. They got angry and abused him. Ravi ignored them and accelerated. This further enraged the men, who intercepted the bus near the Uma Maheshwari temple. One of them smashed the windowpane of the driver's seat with a spanner.

The shattered glass pieces not only injured Ravi, but also a woman constable sitting beside him. Ravi sustained gashes to his cheek and forehead, while glass pieces fell on the constable, K Babu. By the time the conductor and other passengers rushed to the driver's help, the trio rode off.

Ravi managed to drive the bus to Majestic and reported the matter to his seniors. He later filed a complaint at the Banashankari police station.

A similar incident occurred the following day around 1 pm. Three men riding a motorcycle assaulted another BMTC driver, D T Swamy, accusing him of blocking Dr Vishnuvardhan Road. Swamy had parked the bus at the designated Banashankari temple bus stop when the men picked a fight with him.

When he objected, the men pounced on him and assaulted him before riding off. Swamy, along with bus conductor M Khaleel, later filed a police complaint.