BENGALURU: A group of four youths attacked a young man accompanying a girl near Balekundri Circle late Monday night, exposing how vulnerable people are on the streets of Bengaluru. The group was armed with a sword-like object.
Despite the incident occurring on Ambedkar Veedhi, within 300 metres of the Police Commissioner’s Office on Mahaveer Jain Road (Infantry Road) and less than 1km from Vidhana Soudha, a high-security zone, no policeman was at hand to protect the young man. He survived with a slash on his hand by one of the attackers. The incident occurred around 10.15pm.
Worse, several attempts to contact the police control room by various people, including a journalist from The New Indian Express, went in vain as the number (112) remained busy. It was only when a call was made to the Vidhana Soudha police inspector, did a Hoysala patrol team arrive at the scene, albeit 30 minutes late. The attackers and attacked couple had left the scene by then. Police later said the armed youth was in love with the girl, and was upset that she was with another man. The four followed the couple and tried to attack the man.
The reason behind the attack notwithstanding, the fact remains that the targeted couple had no help from the police or public, despite it being a busy road. Shocked commuters stopped their vehicles but did not intervene on seeing the weapon and aggression of the youths. Nagesh K, an eyewitness, said, “I ran out of office hearing a girl scream, and saw one youth brandishing a sword. He was slapping and raining blows on another youth after one of his associates hid the sword in a bush on the footpath. People refrained from helping the couple as the men were armed.”
The police collected video footage from a nearby pub staff and left. The video of the high drama went viral on social media. Based on CCTV footage, three of the accused were taken into custody for interrogation. One of them is identified as Karthik. It is said that one of them had commented about the girl on social media, which had led to the clash.
Retired ACP BB Ashok Kumar, said, “It is a very serious case as miscreants terrorised the public by brandishing a sword in the middle of the road. It is shameful that the incident took place near the police commissioner’s office, and the emergency number did not serve its purpose. Such incidents make public lose faith in the police.”