After hearing arguments on two separate petitions filed by the assaulted BPO employee, and the IAF officer's wife, the high court quashed the case since the petitioners and respondents said there was no physical assault or injury, but only verbal altercation.
Published Sep 12, 2025 | 2:29 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 12, 2025 | 2:29 PM
Wing Commander Shiladitya Bose (left) sports bandages on his face after the incident. He said he was attacked for his inability to speak Kannada. (Centre) CCTV footage of passersby trying to separate the fighting men. (Right) Vikas Kumar SJ, who told the high court that he was not physically assaulted.
Synopsis: A sensational case of road rage in Bengaluru took a curious twist with all parties involved denying physical altercation — contrary to what CCTV visuals showed — leading the high court to quash the proceedings.
A violent road-rage incident in Baiyappanahalli police limits took another interesting twist with the parties involved — a serving Indian Air Force officer, his wife, and a biker — saying no assault had taken place, except for a heated verbal exchange.
Following their submissions through two criminal petitions, the High Court of Karnataka quashed all legal proceedings in connection with the April 2025 incident. The case was before the 10th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Mayo Hall. The FIR, too, was quashed.
Interestingly, a CCTV footage, purportedly of the incident, that surfaced in the public domain showed the IAF officer and his wife assaulting the man, Vikas Kumar SJ, a call-centre employee.
The IAF officer, Wing Commander Shiladitya Bose of West Bengal, earlier told the police that he had been physically assaulted and alleged on social media that he and his wife Madhumita Das were attacked since they could not speak in Kannada, giving the road rage incident a language twist.
After the CCTV footage became public, Bose clarified that the language issue was not involved, but reiterated that he was assaulted with a key.
The police initially arrested Kumar but later booked Bose for attempted murder.
On 29 August, the high court quashed the attempt to murder case against Bose after Kumar submitted that he had not been assaulted. Bose and Madhumita, too, made similar statements.
“The complainant…acknowledges that the incident in question arose out of a road rage, resulting only in verbal exchanges between the parties. He categorically states that except for the said verbal altercation, no physical assault took place,” Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum said in the order.
“On consideration of the affidavits filed by the parties in both petitions, it is noticed that though the accused in Crime No.87/2025 is alleged to have committed an offence under Section 109 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which is otherwise non-compoundable, the presence of the complainant before this court and his voluntary statement that no injuries were sustained, coupled with his willingness to give a quietus to the dispute, persuade this court to exercise its inherent jurisdiction. Continuation of proceedings in such circumstances would serve no fruitful purpose and would amount to an abuse of the process of law,” the court said.
Allowing the petitions to quash the case, the court further noted that one of the accused was a serving Air Force Officer, “who would otherwise be compelled to face criminal proceedings for the aforesaid offences despite the matter being trivial and settled. Having regard to the statements of the complainants, the voluntary withdrawal of allegations, and the absence of any injury, this court is satisfied that both petitions deserve to be allowed. However, it is made clear that both parties are strictly warned not to indulge in such incidents in future,” the order said.
A top police source told South First on Friday, 12 September, that they were yet to get the court order.
Earlier, Wing Commander Shiladtiya Bose and his wife Madhumita, a squadron leader with the Defence Research and Development Organisation, alleged that they were attacked by locals while driving in the Baiyappanahalli police station limits.
In one of his social media posts, Bose claimed he was assaulted by a man speaking in Kannada, threatening him over the language and because his car bore a DRDO sticker. He said he ‘chose not to retaliate.’
Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) B Devaraj said the altercation began when Madhumita objected to the bike rider, who then approached Bose to ask what she was saying.
“Therefore, I was driving and looked at him. He crossed our car and we moved ahead. However, he turned the bike and started abusing me and hit my husband continuously. He banged our car with his leg and a stone. We got down and tried to stop him. But he was unstoppable and hit my husband with a stone on his head,” Madhumita had stated in her police complaint.
She further alleged: “Thereafter, I told my husband to sit in the car. But the unknown person came again from the back and dragged him onto the road. The locals were speaking Kannada and thrashed my husband on the road. The mob was hitting us. I somehow pulled my husband out and put him in the car. He was bleeding on the head and face.”
However, contrary to the couple’s claims, in the CCTV footage, Bose was seen assaulting Kumar. Locals were seen attempting to intervene and separate Bose from Kumar, even as the officer continued to hit him.
The footage showed the highly trained officer holding Kumar in a chokehold, pushing him onto the ground and repeatedly kicking him.
DCP Devraj had then clarified that the issue was not related to the language.
“This is not a case related to any language or reason. It is a clear-cut case of road rage, which is very common in Bengaluru. Both of them could have avoided this. When this altercation was taking place, 6-7 youngsters tried to separate the two people and stop the fight. They tried their level best to pacify both of them… When the lady officer, Madhumita Das, was driving, this guy was coming from the opposite direction… This was the root cause… Then the officer got out of the car, and both of them fought.”
