Mumbai: In yet another road rage case in the city this month, a pillion rider hurled abuses and assaulted a BEST driver with a bat for not allowing his bike to overtake the bus in a traffic jam on a Powai road on Sunday afternoon.
The attacker, identified only as Ijaz, fled the scene along with the biker after the bus driver, Vikas Tamare (49), called the police control room to complain. Powai police have registered an FIR against Ijaz and are scrutinising the area’s CCTV footage to track him down.
This is the third reported road rage case in the city this month. On Dec 3, Santacruz police booked three persons, including a woman, for allegedly assaulting a BEST bus driver and conductor for blocking their scooter’s path in Vile Parle West. Three days later, Borivli police arrested three collegians for allegedly thrashing a BEST bus driver for brushing against their new car.
Sunday’s Powai incident took place near Bharat Scout Guide Training Centre at Filter Pada around 4.10pm when the BEST bus was en route from Gorai to Mulund.
In his police complaint, Tamare said: “As there was a traffic jam, vehicles were moving slowly. The biker kept honking to go ahead of the bus, but there was no space. Suddenly, the pillion rider barged into the bus from the front door and started hurling abuses at me. He then assaulted me with a bat. When he saw that I dialled the police helpline ‘100′, he jumped off the bus.” By then, onlookers caught the biker. “Tamare heard the biker call the pillion rider ‘Ijaz’ when shouting for help,” a police officer said. “The biker and pillion rider managed to escape before police arrived at the spot.”
Earlier, in June, Kherwadi police arrested one person and booked two others for allegedly assaulting BEST driver Balwant Khanvilkar (52) when he did stop the bus at Kalanagar stand in Bandra (E) as there was no space to accommodate more passengers in the vehicle.
