Road rage: Two bikers detained for abusing, threatening family of four in car

An official said that the victim narrated her harrowing experience live to the police on a call and also gave them the vehicle number of the miscreants, which helped in tracking them.

Bengaluru: Two men have been detained for threatening and abusing a family of four travelling by car in southern Bengaluru's Madivala on Sunday night, police said.

In their defence, the suspects told the police that the argument broke out after the car driver gave a wrong indicator and made "lewd" gestures at them.

The incident came to light after Saunak Ghose, a private firm employee, posted a video of the alleged road rage on X at 10.59 pm on Sunday. At the time, Ghose was travelling in the car with his wife, mother-in-law and one-and-a-half-year-old baby.

Ghose, 37, a resident of Bommanahalli, told DH that they were on their way to the Nagarjuna Restaurant in Koramangala when the incident occurred.

"At around 9.15 pm at the Hosur Road signal, three people on a scooter cut us off and said indicator or something like that,” Ghose said. “I didn’t understand it. They then swerved the scooter and blocked our car. They banged on the car windows. As the traffic opened up, I moved away, but they continued to follow us.”

At the St John’s Hospital signal, the suspects allegedly stopped their scooter in front of Ghose’s car again, banged on its windows and attempted to open the doors.

“My wife called the police control room, and when the suspects saw the Hoysala vehicle, they moved away,” Ghose said, adding that the Hoysala personnel travelled with him for nearly five to six kilometres to understand what had happened.

A complaint was subsequently filed with the Madivala police, who swiftly traced and detained Jagannath, the prime suspect who drove and owned the scooter. Tejas, another man on the two-wheeler, has also been detained.

Police said that the two men were aged between 20 and 26, and lived near Seshadripuram. Police found out that the suspects were intoxicated as they had consumed alcohol while returning from a short trip near Hosur.

The suspects told the investigators that that the car took a left turn while indicating to the right and the driver made "lewd" gestures at them using his hand when they asked him about the indicator and hence they chased it, a police source said.

The men have been booked under IPC sections 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees). The investigators also have asked the traffic police to check separately on the violations and take action.