Wing Commander Shiladtiya Bose and his wife Madhumita had alleged that they were attacked by locals while driving in the Baiyappanahalli. CCTV footage of the incident, seen by South First, instead appears to show Bose as the aggressor.
Published Apr 21, 2025 | 8:37 PM ⚊ Updated Apr 21, 2025 | 9:24 PM
Wing Commander Aditya Bose had accused Vikas Kumar of assault.
Synopsis: CCTV footage has emerged contradicting claims by an Indian Air Force officer and his wife that they were assaulted in a road rage incident in Bengaluru. The video appears to show Wing Commander Shiladtiya Bose repeatedly attacking a man while bystanders attempt to intervene.
An alleged road rage incident in Bengaluru involving an Indian Air Force officer has taken a new turn after fresh CCTV footage appeared to contradict claims made by the officer and his wife in a police complaint and viral social media posts.
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 at around 6.20am on Monday, 21 April.
In one of his posts Bose claimed he was assaulted because he did not speak Kannada and because his car bore a DRDO sticker. He said he ‘chose not to retaliate.’
According to the complaint filed by Madhumita, a man on a motorcycle, bearing the registration number KA 53 EA 528, was riding on the wrong side of the road and nearly collided with their car.
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 from the front window, he started abusing me and hit my husband continuously. He banged our car with leg and stone. We got down and tried to stop him. But he was unstoppable and hit my husband with a stone on his head,” Madhumita’s complaint states.
“The attacker threatened by saying, ‘You are my DRDO, I can see the sticker. This is Kannad land (sic). I will see you. Just watch what I do.’”
#Karnataka: CCTV captures @IAF_MCC officer assaulting a man repeatedly over alleged road rage. The officer later filed a complaint that he was abused for not speaking in #Kannada. CCTV footage however shows brutal and repeated assault by the officer against the delivery partner pic.twitter.com/hu3u93zMRD
— South First (@TheSouthfirst) April 21, 2025
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 on 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 head and face.”
Bose later shared videos on social media describing the incident. In one, he said: “I kept shouting and asking people if this is how they treat the people from the armed forces, the one who serve the nation. I believe in Kannada but this is what Karnataka has become. God gave me the power not to retaliate. God save us.”
He added that the attacker “punched with a key on his forehead” and expressed alarm at the response from bystanders.
“The shocking part of this incident was local people stood watching the incident and nobody tried to stop the attacker from hitting me. Only some senior citizens said that he was wrong and asked him to get away from me. All the local people were seen supporting him,” he said.
“He wanted to aggravate the situation and in this, I lost my phone and keys. My wife and kid are alone in the home and I am scared for them. This happened in the heart of the city near DRDO.”
However, CCTV footage of the incident, seen by South First, appears to show Bose brutally attacking the biker – identified as Vikas Kumar, a call centre employee.
Contrary to the couple’s claims, Vikas does not appear to retaliate. Instead, locals are seen attempting to intervene and separate Bose from Kumar, even as the officer continues to hit him.
The footage shows the highly trained officer holding Kumar in a chokehold, pushing him on the ground and repeatedly kicking him.
Following Bose’s initial social media posts, some users, particularly right-wing accounts, linked the incident to broader claims of rising anti-Hindi and anti-north Indian sentiment in Karnataka, criticising the Congress-led state government.
But since the CCTV footage emerged, many users expressed outrage, accusing Bose of attempting to frame a road rage incident as a language-related attack in order to deflect attention from his own actions and called for action against him.
Meanwhile, DCP B Devaraj confirmed that an FIR had been registered against Vikas Kumar, and that he has been arrested.
“We looked at the videos that were circulated on social media. Our police official from Baiyappanahalli police station reached out to Madhumita and asked her to file a complaint with us on behalf of her husband,” he said. “After this, we checked for CCTV footages and tracked the person who attacked the couple.”
“He has given his version on the turn of events in the morning. He has been booked under various Section 157 clauses A and B of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.”
The DCP was not available for comment on the CCTV footage contradicting the initial account.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
