The city which is no stranger to cases of road rage , saw one more extreme instance Sunday midnight.
A 13 year old boy was hit by pellets from what is thought to be an an air gun fired by unidentified men in a white Honda Civic at the Tata Indica he was travelling in, because they got impatient while trying to overtake it near the Sadashivanagar Maruthi Mandir, a stone's throw from the area police station.
Cab and tempo owner, Lingaraju was returning from a funeral in Kanakapura with his wife Ambika and three children, including 13-year-old Nithin, in his Tata Indica, when the Honda Civic appeared behind him.
Having dropped his friend, H Narayan, who had accompanied them to the funeral, in R T Nagar, Mr Lingaraju was taking his family home to Vyalikaval, when the Honda Civic began to repeatedly honk from behind to overtake him.
Growing impatient at not being given way immediately, the driver of the Civic shot three rounds, possibly from an air gun - at the rear of the Indica, and at its windows. Mr Lingaraju’s son Nithin who was sitting on the front left seat was hit by pellets above the left ear, while the Civic sped away, having accomplished its mission of overtaking the car.
Nithin was rushed to KC General Hospital by his parents but was allegedly refused treatment. He was given first aid after the police reportedly intervened and then referred to Nimhans where he underwent a minor operation to remove the pellet. The boy, who was discharged and returned home Monday, is said to be recovering.
The Sadashivanagar police who have recovered the pellet, resembling a bicycle ball bearing, have registered a case of attempt to murder and are looking for the driver of the Honda Civic, who shot the boy. No case has been registered under the Arms Act as the weapon used was possibly an air rifle or a toy pistol.
”The FSL experts who were summoned to the spot have said the pellet had been fired from a toy pistol. So we have only registered a case of attempt to murder,” a police officer explained.
Hunt on for shooters
The Sadashivanagar and Central division police have launched a manhunt for the driver of the the Honda Civic who allegedly shot at the car carrying Mr Lingaraju and his family. While the police know the car was white, they do not have its correct registration number,and are trying to track it down with the help of Honda car dealers and the regional transport offices in the city.
The police are also having a difficult time establishing who the air rifle belongs to as you dont need to have a license to own it. The police suspect the air rifle may have been bought to hunt animals.
Hospital sources say
Thirteen year old Nithin, severely injured when the car he was travelling in was shot at by an impatient driver trying to overtake it, did not get the medical help he needed immediately. K C General refused to treat him and he had to be taken to Nimhans for surgery.
Ask the hospital's medical superintendent, Dr Chandraprabha, about its callousness in such an emergency and she says, "The boy was brought to the hospital at around 12 midnight. He was treated by the casualty medical officer immediately as an outpatient. General hospitals like ours do not handle gunshot cases unless they are registered by the police. The case had to be referred to Nimhans."
But Dr T.S Cheluvaraju, director of health and family welfare, does not agree. "In an emergency like this the hospital has to provide initial treatment even if it is a police case. Saving the patient’s life is a priority, ”he underlines.
Past incidents
July 2011 : Three Iranian girls in a car hit a cyclist, injuring him. An angry crowd that gathered around demanded money from the girls to let them go, forcing them to use a pepper spray to keep it at bay in K S Layout.
March 2011 : A teenager stabbed a 33-year-old businessman in the stomach on Brigade Road because he told him to get out of the way of his car. The businessman was treated in hospital and survived the incident.
January, 2012 : Two men, Manjunath and Raghu,who were on a motorcyle on East End Road, were hit by a car and picked up a quarrel with the four men inside it. When the men in the car hit Manjunath, they threw stones at them and fled. But the men in the car gave chase and stabbed them. The duo survived after a surgery at a city hospital.
