Bangalore:
Two youth of a Bangalore college were arrested for attempted murder after wounding a motorist for allegedly brushing against them while they were crossing the road.
In a classic case of road rage, a man had a brush with death on the busy Brigade road yesterday evening, when he accidentally grazed two students with his car while they were crossing the road. Sumith (33), a building contractor was driving past Cauvery Emporium towards Residency Road at 6 pm yesterday evening along with his friend H Chandra, when Mohammad Ishad's and Akhil Joshi, both 20-year-old students from a city college, stepped in front of his car.
Unable to stop in time, the front of the vehicle brushed them. Sumith got out of the vehicle since the students were verbally abusing him, which led to an argument involving all four men, and then turned into an all-out fistfight. Things took a turn for the worst when Ishad whipped out a sharp pocketknife and stabbed Sumit in the abdomen.
The commotion alerted the traffic police nearby, who realised what had happened and restrained the students and immediately notified Ashok Nagar police station. Sumith on the other hand, was rushed to St Philomena's Hospital, where he was treated in the ICU.
K Subhalaxmi, the doctor who treated Sumith, said, "A very sharp knife was used in the attack. We're not sure how deep the wound is, but he is in a critical condition."We don't know who these two boys are. His entire family is dependent on him and he has an aging mother and a younger sister. We can only hope that the authorities do their job," said the victim's cousin S Sridhar.
Police authorities named Ishad as the accused and Joshi as accomplice in the case. Both boys, originally from Kerala, had come to Bangalore a few years ago for higher studies. Sub Inspector B R Raghavendra said, "The boys are from a college in the city. Both parties started used foul language and then began a physical fight.
The accused claim that the other two started to assault them first." According to the victim, after he was stabbed, Ishad and Joshi challenged him saying 'call the cops'. Meanwhile, the two students have been arrested on attempt to murder and assault charges and will be produced in court today.