A heated argument between a Bengaluru Ola cab driver and a passenger over the air-conditioner (AC) in the car took a violent turn when the former allegedly hit the businessman on his head with an iron rod on Saturday morning.
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The incident took place near Forest Guest House on CV Raman Road.
The businessman — identified as a Hyderabad-resident named G Keshava Reddy — has filed a criminal complaint with the Sadashivanagar police over the incident.
He had sustained several injuries on his neck and back, which he is being treated for.
Meanwhile, the police have said the accused, who has been identified as one Syed Arif, is absconding. His cellphone is also switched off.
"We've issued a notice to the Ola office in Vyalikaval, central Bengaluru," a police officer was quoted as saying by the Times of India.
Here's what happened
The victim was visiting Bengaluru to meet his friends and discuss his plans about opening an eatery chain in the city.
He met friends Jagan Reddy and Janardhan in Yeshwantpur on Friday night. Keshava told ToI he booked an Ola cab to go from Yeshwantpur to St Marks Road. All three got into the cab around 5:45 am.
The cab was approaching Forest Guest House on CV Raman Road when Janardhan asked Keshava, sitting next to the driver, to switch off the AC since it was chilly in the morning.
Keshava looked at the driver Arif and assumed he would switch off the AC. But Arif was busy on the mobile, he told the police. This prompted Reddy to turn off the AC which did not go down well the Arif.
"Since the drive was busy, I leaned to turn off the AC. At that point, the driver suddenly became violent, brazenly pushed my hand away from the AC console, and slapped me," said Keshava.
"The driver told me in a stiff voice that the car was his, and only he could operate AC. I told him that I fiddled with it because he was busy on the mo bile. This triggered heated arguments," he added.
"He knew my friends and I were conversing in Telugu, and he started using abusive language against us and our language. I told him to behave, and asked him to stop the vehicle," Keshava said.
However, the spat did not end there. Arif attacked Keshav with a rod when he and his friends got down from the cab and decided to board another one.
While Keshav's friends managed to escape, he fell down. Arif repeatedly struck the victim with the rod. He even threatened to thrash his friends.
"The driver sped away after assaulting me. Later, my friends cowering at a distance returned to help me," Keshava said. His friends immediately rushed him to the KC General Hospital in Malleswaram.
