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Road rage: SUV driver beats up elderly pedestrian in Panchkula
According to police, the 69-year-old victim’s walking stick had touched and left a scratch on the SUV, leading to the road rage incident in Panchkula
In a case of road rage, an elderly man was beaten up mercilessly in Sector 11, Panchkula, after his walking stick reportedly touched and left a scratch on a new SUV.
The accused, a 43-year-old insurance surveyor who lives in the same sector, has been arrested. He has been identified as Manoj Kumar. A video shot by another resident shows him hitting the senior citizen – who is visually impaired in one eye – with the latter’s walking stick. The accused repeatedly slapped and hit the victim and abused him while he kept pleading for him to stop.
The victim, Ram Sarup Kalra, 69, who also resides in Sector 11, submitted a written complaint to the Haryana director general of police (DGP) on Friday. He stated that on November 22, when he was returning to his house from a nearby park, he spotted a speeding Toyota Innova car approaching him on the narrow street. He reportedly signalled the car to slow down, but it did not.
“The car crushed my foot, following which I lost balance and fell on the road. The accused picked up my walking stick and started beating me mercilessly. Other senior citizens from the locality requested him to stop, but he kept on beating and abusing me,” he stated in the complaint.
According to Kalra, the accused threatened him with dire consequences if he sees him again. A few senior citizens tried to save him, and one of the neighbours shot the incident. In the video, children can be heard crying and women screaming with fear as the accused hit the old man with sticks.
In trauma, victim hid incident from family
“I got so scared that I did not tell my family about this incident. However, later they got to know and my son informed the local police about the incident on Thursday,” Kalra stated in the FIR.
Kalra’s son Jitender, who runs the family business, said: “Although the incident happened on Monday, my father didn’t share it with us. He has been in a trauma. I received the video on WhatsApp, and realised what had happened.”
While Jitender reported the matter to the local police station on Thursday, Kalra submitted a complaint to the DGP on Friday morning and an FIR was registered.
Pleading for his safety, the elderly man stated in his complaint: “A senior citizen has been beaten mercilessly on the road and threatened to death with dire consequences in front of many residents, which has duly been videographed. You are requested to protect my life and liberty which is at imminent danger at the behest of the accused, who is a criminal in the society. You are requested to take stern action against the accused after registering the FIR against him (sic).”
After arresting the accused, the Panchkula police shared his picture on their Twitter account, promising to take “strictest action” against him.
“The accused had bought a new car and at the turn, the elderly man’s stick touched it, leading to a scratch. It was unintentional, but it angered him. He got down and started arguing and beating the old man,” said assistant sub-inspector Desraj, who is the investigating official.
