BENGALURU: In an incident similar to the Delhi hit-and-drag case, a scooter rider dragged an aged person for about 1 km after crashing into the latter’s MUV near the toll gate on Magadi Road on Tuesday.
The youth, identified as Sahil (22) who was riding on the wrong side of the road, first hit the parked Mahindra Bolero and attempted to flee.
An argument broke out and when the MUV owner Muthappa (70) grabbed the seat ring of the scooter, the youth continued to ride, dragging the aged man for about 1 km up to the Hosahalli Metro station.
Other motorists gave a chase and forced Sahil to stop. They then thrashed him up. The incident was recorded on mobile phone.
The Govindaraja Nagar police, who arrived on the scene, took the youth into custody and shifted him, along with Muthappa, to a hospital in an ambulance. Sahil is a resident of Nayandahalli colony and works as a medical salesman. He has since been arrested.
Speaking to media persons from his hospital bed, Muthappa, a publisher, said, “I was heading to Kuvempu Bhasha Bharathi Praadhikara in NGEF Layout Stage 2 when the youth, who was on the phone, hit my vehicle from behind. I got off the vehicle and tried to catch him, but he tried to escape. I then caught hold of the scooter seat ring. He was very arrogant, that is why I caught hold of his vehicle. He tied to loosen my grip of the vehicle, so I switched hands whenever he tried to do so”.
“He was deliberately swerving along the road too, by then some youngsters and an autorickshaw driver stopped him. He made every effort to escape from the spot. The locals gathered at the spot and thrashed and also called for an ambulance”, he added.
Further, Muthappa said, “If he had apologised then itself, I would have let him go. But he was arrogant and I decided I will not let him go. I have suffered some injuries below the waist. Youths should not be irresponsible and careless”.
Muthappa, who hails from Vijayapura, has settled in Bengaluru for the last 54 years.
Sunil Kumar, who captured the incident on his mobile phone, told Public TV, “I was near the Vijayanagar flyover when a friend called me on the phone. The scooterist hit the MUV from behind and the driver got down to question him, but he started riding and the MUV driver caught on to his scooter. I tried to stop him, but he was trying to kick me too. When he didn’t stop, I started taking a video and by then some autorickshaw drivers managed to block him”.
“It’s scary to even think about it, but even at his age, the MUV driver didn’t let go and he must be appreciated. If he had let go, there could have been a danger to his life as he could have hit the divider or a vehicle coming from behind could have run him over”, he added.