BENGALURU: A 47-year-old journalist allegedly stabbed a medical transcriptionist with a Swiss knife in Bharathinagar near Halasuru Lake in the wee hours of Thursday. The road rage incident took place after the scribe crashed his car into the victim’s two-wheeler while driving in a reckless manner. The victim’s condition is said to be stable.
Soon after the incident, police arrested the accused, Cernan Charles Denga, who works as a senior news editor in an English newspaper in Chennai. He was tested for alcohol, and the alcometer showed a reading of 264mg/100ml of blood, while the permissible limit is 30mg.
The accused faces charges of attempt to murder as well as drunk driving, the police said.
The victim is Raviteja S (28), a resident of KR Puram. He was working in a knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) firm.
A senior police officer said the incident occurred at 2.45am when Raviteja was riding to his office to meet his colleagues and also collect his relieving letter as he had resigned from his job recently. Meanwhile, Denga was driving his car when he rammed Raviteja’s bike. Sustaining some minor bruises, Raviteja got up and questioned Denga, but the latter allegedly started abusing him.
As an argument ensued, Denga lost his temper and whipped out his Swiss knife and allegedly stabbed Raviteja multiple times in his neck, chest and shoulder.
A bleeding Raviteja collapsed, but before this, called some relatives and friends to inform them about the incident, even as Denga tried leaving the spot. However, Denga was caught by locals.
Raviteja’s colleague Yogesh K S was among the first to reach the spot and he took the victim to a nearby private nursing home. Unfortunately, Raviteja was unable to speak as he was stabbed in his throat. Considering his critical condition, Raviteja was rushed to Mahaveer Jain Hospital on Miller’s Road, where he underwent surgery.
The locals who caught Denga alerted the traffic police first as it was a road accident. But the attack on Raviteja brought in the law and order police to the scene too.
Denga was arrested and subjected to medical and alcohol tests. He was then handed over to Bharathinagar police, who handed him over to judicial custody.