[bharat4ever]

Originally Posted by Rahul_

Just a question : In such extreme cases where you see people yielding weapons and trying to hit you/your case with motive to harm is it advisable to shove through the parked scooter and make your way through and escape ?

I would say escape, and drive straight to the nearest police station, and wait for them to follow you.

[landcruiser123]

Hi Thilak 29,

I hope your physical wounds heal soon and do give it some time for the mental wounds to heal. I'm sorry that you were the victim of such a horrific incident. With the evidence in hand, I think the police should be able to nab the culprits.

If its not personal, did you have any altercation with the maid servant, chauffeur, janitor or security guard in the recent past? Or do you suspect a case of mistaken identity? If people can go to such violent extremes for phones and laptops, I must say that morals in the society have gone south. As many suggested, please find a lawyer to fight the case and also follow up with the police often. The rental scooter should have been booked from a phone. Details of the owner of the phone/SIM can be traced electronically.

Please get adequate rest and our prayers are with you.

As a general advice, it is not considered good practice for a third person to intervene and try to mediate the situation. But multiple calls to the police can help.

[Stribog]

Based on your descriptions, I get the feeling that this is a case of targeted violence but of mistaken identity.

The sequence is just too random and even alcohol being involved far too violent for even a robbery. Only other trigger would be if you had exchanged words or cut them off or something but you said you are 200% certain none of this happened.

Stay safe.

[spanner777]

Wishing you a speedy recovery mate - mentally and physically. Keep up the confidence that this world is a good place to live, this is just a Black Swan event. Glad that you are not seriously injured.

Absolutely admire the way you have stayed calm during the incident. I certainly would have reacted differently in the spur of the moment, which would have left me regretting later.

[PrasannaDhana]

Cowards watching a fellow citizen being attacked!

I don't know about other parts of the country, but in my place, people jump in to stop such incidents (I myself have stopped road rage physical assaults in the past). Good that you had a dash cam installed. Never back down from putting these lowlives behind bars.

You have a lot of patience. I would have just run them over. Sorry if I sound aggressive, but these guys deserve it.

[tazmaan]

Originally Posted by sudeepg

Where did this happen? Could you give more location specific details? Also when you overtook them, did you by any chance brush against their scooter or was it too close?

It hardly matters if there was a motoring incident before or not what they have done is rioting with an attempt to rob and even murder. Imagine if there were kids in the car or a piece of glass causing permanent damage to the eye. This is nothing short of attempt to murder.

Not to start a 2 wheeler bashing but most (not all) 2 wheelers drive as if they own the road and if they get nudged while they try to swerve in and out of non existing gaps, they get aggressive and physical in no time. The western highway in Mumbai during peak hours is full of such idiots (or terrorists) and I just pray every time that they don't brush against my car. Even if they nudge my ORVM while I am stand still, I am too scared to make an eye contact. I do have a Dash cam but a footage won't bring you back from dead.

@ Thilak I really feel sorry for the incident and you handled it better than most would. You are really lucky that there was no permanent damage. But the mental scar will take some time to heal. Regarding Police they have enough evidence and should act unless they are associated with some really powerful people.

[herculesksp]

Originally Posted by procrj

Can turn into a deadly instrument if used wrongly.

Agree. Many times my blood boils when I get into such situations, but realizing that I have this with me and I might put myself into a very bad situation should it start getting physical defuses my tension and I just walk away just hearing the abuses.
I hope it never comes to using it.

The issue with pepper spray is that it is very strong and in the open air it might blow back into the car cabin and end up incapacitating you yourself. You'll not be able to get away as well if you have to.

Do not want to digress from showing support to the OP, but what might be the best way to protect yourself in such cases, in a defensive way?

In this case the glass was broken. What if in such cases we just roll down the window next to us. This way there is no surface to hit from outside. I feel it'll be harder to land a punch or assault through the window (as they can only push through and not swing) and it might be easier for the driver to deflect the blows towards the window frame of the car and this may hurt the attacker and cause them to back away.

Esp doing this if they have a tool in hand. With bare hands I don't think it will be easy to break the windows.

Of course all this is conjecture, but maybe this is a good time to think about what is the best thing to do in such a situation from a defensive point of view. In Bangalore you can't escape and get away in a car more than a few 100 meters and these folks will find you in the next jam and attack harder.

This is probably what happened here. The OP seemed to have made a getaway from the first incident (unless the video was sped up) and the next time the thugs came back with tools.

When I have run into altercations I typically let the miscreants go away first while I take a few deep breaths and then I leave the place (before they come back with re-enforcements)

Sorry for the long "rant", but road rage and assault is getting all too real in BLR.

[Sasanka_Sanga]

Its very unfortunate incident. I hope you are doing better. Wishing you a speedy recovery friend.

I am sure those guys were under the influence of alcohol, and good thing is you stayed calm throughout. Don't let them go away with what they have done. Please keep a copy of evidences with you and also submit the copies to the police who will further nab those culprits.

They had the intention of robbing your valuables and also cause harm to you.

It is always safe to have a colleague with you especially during night drives.

Note : They might also throw eggs on your windscreen and at that situation never ever use wipers to clean the stains at any cost, you will end up spreading yolk all through the windscreen and your visibility pragmatically becomes zero and thereby you will have no option but to stop (my personal experience on NH163). Keep driving until you see good number of people/toll gate/police station.

Last but not the least, stay safe. Recover soon.

[shashank.nk]

Kudos to you for remaining so calm throughout the incident! I would have scooted the second time even if it meant ramming their vehicle or running them over but only to regret such behaviour later.

I don't understand what made them get so violent here. It looks like they were under influence (one can be seen smoking in the clip too) but the attack is far too aggressive to come to that conclusion since they were no words exchanged or any incident prior to this.

I hope you recover soon from the incident and get back to driving which we all enjoy, the deteriorating road discipline and manners notwithstanding.

[SJQIL87]

Really feeling sad for those things happened to you.

It is really good that you have a dashcam and you got the pictures of those goons clearly.

I am thinking about how hard-hearted these people are.

I hope they will get proper punishment for what they have done.

But be alert because they may be local goons and may try to take revenge later.

Be safe and be alert.

[sudeepg]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

I wont let this go, if it were me. I would independently track both of them down through means i possess.

Agree 100%. Shouldn't let this go so easily. The crime is not at all trivial in nature and not bringing them to justice will only improve their courage to do that again.

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Tweet to Bangalore police commissioner and also post on reddit. Reddit's India subreddit is often monitored by news publications.

Very good idea. Social media should be used to bring up these issues. Good luck Thilak

Yesterday while returning home from work, I saw two, two wheeler guys bashing up each other. It was unclear what happened but they were fighting on the road. Luckily one of the motorist intervened and the situation was diffused. One of the motorist wanted to continue the fight. Why can't people talk it out instead of resorting to fights publicly?

[ankan.m.blr]

You did stand your ground, did not lose your cool, did not get provoked into participating in violence. Even at the risk to your life and limbs. You have also followed the correct legal process to lodge an FIR and claim insurance. Frankly, I don't think anyone could have handled the situation legally in a better way. Sir, you actually are a hero. Please follow up with the police dept so that perpetrators can be caught and justice is delivered to them.

[sgm]

Originally Posted by Thilak29

I did create a post in fb, with a intention to create general awareness of elements around us. If it helps nab miscreants it's one less evil away from our civic society.

Sad to hear about this horrific incident. Get well soon. Please ask your friends to share the FB post, you never know, someone may be able to identify the culprits. I'm also sharing the same. Let it become viral.

Hoping that you will have a quick recovery both physically and mentally.

[PompousKnight]

First, I wanna commend you for keeping calm and not reacting. I think thats the best & ideal course of action in these kinda situations, especially when you know you have evidence getting recorded in the background.

Even if you had run over their scooter and continued, whats the guarantee that these miscreants wouldn't pursue you by other means and try to hurt you & damage your car more? The road seemed quite narrow in the video, its possible that you could get struck in traffic and these guys could have caught up on foot.

Looking at the video, it seems to me that they first tested you by seeing how you react by breaking your rear view mirror. Once they saw that you tried to avoid confrontation, they followed you and stopped you at a pre planned place close to the tire shop and tried to rob you.

If you had confronted or run over their bike, it would have been what they wanted all along. They would have done lot worse and blame it all on mutual confrontation.

The real fight starts now. Go after them. Be relentless and show no mercy at this hooligans when you manage to get your hold on them, which i think you will.

[haria]

Originally Posted by Thilak29

The incident took place near Hoodi enroute Ayyappa Nagar at Bangalore.

Oh boy. Not generalizing , but that area is one heck of a spot. Over aggressive youngsters who are ready to get into a fight even if one looks at them for more than few seconds. Have seen many altercations there - sometimes real messy ones. Good that you were calm and didn't engage with these guys. Remember, these jerks have nothing to loose and police station, case, etc. are nothing new for them.


Stay safe.