A group of men – clearly drunk – are dancing on the road. Seconds later, a bike enters the street with three people astride. Suddenly, the revellers decide to attack the two men and one woman on the bike, for no apparent reason. The bike falls down, and the woman gets off to get away from the attackers. The two men on the bike are getting beaten up.
One of the men can be seen trying to get away, but the goon follows him and thrashes him.
This is the shocking video that has emerged of an incident that happened at 12.35am on New Year’s eve in Bengaluru. The CCTV footage from 6th Cross, Motappapalya in Indiranagar has created massive outrage across the city. Based on the footage, police have now registered a suo-moto complaint and arrested two men – Ambareesh alias Khaki and Lokesh alias Gudde on Tuesday morning. On Tuesday evening, the police arrested nine more members of the same gang after interrogating the two suspects. (Video at the end of story)
The ‘reason’ for the attack is bizarre: According to the police, the men who were dancing in the middle of the street got angry because the bike apparently touched one of their legs. The woman on the bike apologised repeatedly to the drunk attackers, but to no avail.
"The three victims are related. They are brothers and sister. The incident has come to light now because of gang rivalry. One of the rival gangs has started circulating the video now. We have arrested two people and are looking for the rest. The victims have not come forward to register a complaint and hence we have filed a suo motu case," DCP East Ajay Hilory
According to the police, this was a gang of rowdy sheeters. The men also stole the bike after attacking the three people, and so far, the bike has not been recovered.
"We have watched the CCTV footage. For almost an hour before the incident, the gang of men were dancing and drinking on the road. They were harassing whoever passed by. They even harassed a few people who were passing by in a white coloured car. Besides, they are seen catcalling women also," a police source told TNM.
They also threatened to break beer bottles on people who were passing by, the source added.
The fact that this happened despite an increased police presence on New Year has left many people speechless. Bengaluru had seen a heavy blanket of security this New Year's Eve after pictures from the year before had embarrassed the city. Pictures published by the Bangalore Mirror had shown worried women trying to move towards police as a drunken mob of revelers on Brigade Road misbehaved with them.
The incident has happened in an area that had heavy police presence. Last year, two untoward incidents had happened in the same zone. On January 2, 2017 a video of a woman being molested by two men on a bike had gone viral and generated outrage among the people of Bengaluru. The incident, which occurred in Banaswadi, is also located in Bengaluru East zone. Similarly, in another incident, a woman, who was stepping out of a bar on 100ft road in Indira Nagar was also molested. The brave woman chased her attacker, thrashed him and handed him over to the police.