Dr.Thomas (Special Correspondent)
Enraged over poor lighting led to pedestrian killed in hit and run,villagers attacked route patrolling officer and two of his assistance before damaging the vehicle and robbing tools at Thippasandra hand pos in Thippasandra village of Magadi Taluk in Ramanagara on Thursday.
The injured Rajanna,43 ad his assistant Puttaswamy and driver Manjunath part of the Nelamangala Devihalli expressway patrolling squad rushed to the spot after the intimidation about the accidental death of a pedestrian led to protest and road block .
A group of 20 villagers agitated and blocking the road in protest of the death of a villagers,attacked the trio accusing them of not illuminating the area properly leading to accident.
The protestor beat up the trio,damaged the patrolling vehicle and took away dashcam,barlight indicators,PA system,toolkit and safety cones .
The attackers soon sped away after police reached the spot and helped the victims to shift them to hospital. The trio are being treated at hospital and the damaged vehicle is being sent to the garage for repair.
Jayaramegowda,Manager of the patrolling squad, told reporters that villagers are miffed that there are poor lighting facility at the accident spot and attacked the patrolling staff accusing them of responsible for the death.
The NHAI officials are responsible for the lighting and other infrastructure and the patrolling staff are responsible for helping the accident victims,Helping people on highway in distress and clearing the traffic, Jayaramegowda, said.This is the third such attack on the patrolling staff in the stretch.
The other patrolling staff members refused to go to work fearing the villagers for the last two days.
Based on the complaint, the Kudur police have registered a case against unknown people charging them under section 143 (unlawful assembly )147 (rioting) 324 (Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons) 427 (mischief causing damage)and 56 (criminal intimidation )for further investigation.
