Road rage in Mumbai: Three arrested for roughing up BEST bus driver

An argument broke out between the two parties when the accused’s car tried to overtake the bus, and ended up brushing it.

The Santacruz police late on Saturday night arrested three men who allegedly abused and roughed up a Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus driver in an incident of road rage, after their vehicles brushed on a road in Santacruz (West). The accused have been sent to police custody for further probe.

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According to the Santacruz police, the incident took place around 10.20pm on SV Road in Santacruz when the BEST bus was on its way to Andheri (West) from Pratiksha Nagar, Sion. One of the vehicles, a Santro car, which was driven by the accused, tried overtaking the bus from the left side. In the process, the Santro brushed the front side of the BEST bus.

This infuriated the bus driver, Balasaheb Ghodse, 47, and he asked the car driver to drive properly. The Santro driver, on the other hand, got down and started blaming the bus driver for the accident, demanding he pay the expenses. This led to a heated argument between the parties, and the Santro driver and two others blocked the BEST bus with their car. They then started abusing Ghodse and also roughed him up. The bus conductor, Shivaji Dhaigude, was abused too. One of the passengers on the bus then called the police control room.

The police rushed to the spot and rounded all of them up and took them to the police station. After listening to both the sides, a FIR was registered against the trio under section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 332 (Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 342 (wrongful confinement), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

The accused were identified as Mehboob Shaikh, 27, a resident of Golibar, Santacruz, Mehtab Shah, 24, a resident of Bandra (West) and Maksad Shaikh, 25,a resident of Golibar, Santacruz. All three accused are businessmen. They have been sent to police custody till September 18 by a magistrate for further probe.