Karnataka traffic cops kick triple riding bike; 1 killed, 2 critical

Bengaluru, Sept 29: Traffic police in Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka, have landed in trouble for allegedly kicking a triple riding scooter after chasing it. While a pillion rider lost his life, two others are battling for life.

The incident took place near Hennur on Tuesday. The rider lost his balance and collided with a mini-goods vehicle when a Banaswadi traffic cop kicked the two-wheeler. While Chetan (25), one of the pillion riders, succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital on Thursday, Vinay (21), who was riding the scooter, and Kiran (22) are undergoing treatment for grievous injuries.

As the goods vehicle came to a sudden halt after the incident, another bike rider, Krishna Kumar, too collided with the mini-truck sustaining serious injuries.

According to the police, traffic policemen had barricaded a stretch of road near Gunduthoppu bus stop and were flagging down traffic offenders. The trio passed the Nagawara signal and on spotting the traffic police a little ahead immediately took a U-turn to avoid getting fined.

“Meanwhile, two traffic policemen on their bike started chasing them and one of them kicked the trio’s scooter from behind while on the move. Vinay lost control of the bike and collided with the Tata Ace,” said Venkatesh, Vinay's uncle. He said the chase has been captured in CCTV footages.

According to him, the three were heading to K R Puram MLA Byrathi Basavaraju’s house to bring him to the Ganesha Chathurthi function organised in their area.

However, the police have registered a case of accident naming Vinay as the accused and all the others including the driver and a technician of the goods vehicle and Krishna Kumar as victims. Interestingly, the technician, Manjunath, who was sleeping inside the Ace, has become the complainant.

The Banaswadi traffic police maintain that they did not chase the trio and they ran into the vehicle after taking the U-turn to avoid the policemen.

The goods vehicle driver, Santosh, “While driving my vehicle I suddenly heard a bang from the left with the sound of glass smashing. Later I learnt from the crowd that they were chased by the police.”

The crowd gathered there also informed the victim's family members of the alleged involvement of the police in the accident. When they attempted to lodge a complaint at the police station against the errant policemen, the inspector allegedly abused them. They have recorded the incident on their phones.

“We have two to three versions of the incident and we are collecting more proof to thoroughly investigate the matter. We cannot comment on the incident as it is being investigated,” said Anupam Agarwal, DCP Traffic East.