BENGALURU: JDS state general secretary C Manjunath, alias Gottigere Manjunath alias Manjanna, was arrested for abusing, assaulting and headbutting an on-duty traffic police constable.
The incident happened at Gottigere junction on Bannerghatta Road on Sunday afternoon. The politician is alleged to have assaulted the traffic cop for stopping his vehicle to clear vehicular movement in the opposite direction.
Manjunath, 65, a resident of VIP Street at Gottigere, was arrested in the early hours of Monday following a complaint from Arun Manjappa Badagoudra, a constable attached to Hulimavu traffic police station, against Manjunath and three others.
“As it was peak hour traffic, Arun and another police constable were manning traffic with hand signals. Arun stopped a white Mercedes Benz, and Manjunath got out of the car and started abusing Arun in filthy language. When the constable reacted, Manjunath snatched his mobile phone and smashed it on the road. Manjunath head-butted the traffic policeman, kicked him and also punched him in the face, causing bleeding injuries. Arun got treated at Jayanagar General Hospital. As it was a medico-legal case, the hospital informed the jurisdictional Hulimavu police. The constable has alleged that Manjunath’s driver and two other persons were also involved,” said an officer.
“The incident was captured in the body cameras of the traffic policemen at the spot. We checked the recordings and found that the allegations made by the constable against Manjunath are true. The accused denied assaulting the cop, and the same digital recordings were shown to him after his arrest around 3am on Monday, from a hotel near Meenakshi Mall,” the officer said. After the incident, Manjunath escaped from the spot. Police are on the lookout for Manjunath’s driver and two others.
Manjunath and the others were charged with causing grievous injuries to deter a public servant from his duty and other sections of BNS. Manjunath was produced before a court, which granted him conditional bail on health grounds.
