Bengaluru: An FIR has been registered against a 40-year-old IAF officer based on a counter-complaint by a call centre employee, who was previously arrested on the officer’s complaint in a road rage incident, police said on Tuesday.
Indian Air Force Wing Commander Shiladitya Bose made an allegation in a video he shared that he was attacked and verbally abused by a group of Kannada-speaking individuals who chased him on a bike in Bengaluru early Monday morning. Terming it a case of road rage, police arrested Vikas Kumar, who works as a team head at a software company’s call centre.
Both parties have attacked each other, and some purported videos showed the IAF officer roughing up the accused, creating a scene for the onlookers. The officer was captured engaging in an argument with Kumar and beating him up in full public view, even as his wife tried to stop him.
According to multiple rep, Bose is currently in Kolkata. Bengaluru Police are expected to summon him soon for questioning as part of the ongoing investigation. The FIR was registered by the Byappanahalli Police based on a complaint filed by the injured biker, Vikas Kumar, a call centre employee.
The FIR includes serious charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), namely Sections 108 (abetment), 115(2) (attempt to commit an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life), 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), and 352 (assault or use of criminal force otherwise than on grave provocation).
The incident occurred around 6 AM when Bose and his wife, Squadron Leader Madhumita Dutta—both DRDO officers—were heading to catch a flight to Kolkata. Bose later uploaded a video on the social media platform X, with a bloodied face, alleging that they were abused by a biker for not speaking in Kannada. He claimed the biker drove recklessly, stopped in front of their vehicle, and attacked them.
Bose said, “I kept shouting and asking people, is this how Karnataka treats people from the armed forces who serve the nation?” He added that local residents didn’t intervene, except for a few senior citizens.
However, CCTV footage tells a different story. The video reportedly shows Bose pinning down Vikas Kumar and repeatedly punching him on the road. Following this, Bengaluru Police dismissed the language angle.
DCP (Bengaluru East) Devraj clarified to reporters that the conflict had nothing to do with Kannada. “This is not a language-related issue. The altercation began when Bose’s wife questioned the biker for coming from the wrong side. It escalated into a scuffle, as we often see in road rage incidents across Bengaluru,” he said.
The DCP also countered Bose’s claim that no one tried to stop the fight. “Our investigation and the footage show that two to three people attempted to intervene and break up the fight,” he added.
Police say they are in the process of collecting more evidence, including footage from dashcams in the area, to piece together the full sequence of events.
