BENGALURU: A 34-year-old gram panchayat (GP) member and his friend have been arrested in Ramanagara district for allegedly murdering a 36-year-old two-wheeler rider in a road rage incident on July 1.
The accused are GP member Raghavendra and Babu, 32, a local functionary with a regional political party. Both are residents of Solur village near Magadi. The deceased is Syed Masood, a resident of Dinnur Main Road, RT Nagar. Masood, a welder, had visited Hebbur, near Kunigal, with his friend Nawab Khan for work on July 1. They were returning to the city on a scooter Masood was riding. They reached Solur junction around 9.30pm and hit two pedestrians, who had allegedly walked on to the road abruptly. The pedestrians fell down.
Raghavendra and Babu were eating at a nearby roadside shop and saw the accident. They rushed to the spot and took Masood's helmet and hit him on the head and chest. Masood collapsed and was rushed to the government hospital in Solur and later to the one in Nelamangala. The suspects followed them and fought with Masood and Khan in Nelamangala too.
Doctors in Nelamangala referred the injured man to Nimhans. But he breathed his last on the way there, around midnight.
Ramanagara SP Santosh Babu N said Masood had sustained injuries in an accident a few months ago and had recovered. But when the suspects hit him with helmets, he sustained similar injuries again. Kudur police registered a murder case against the suspects on July 2, based on a complaint by Khan.They were nabbed on the same day.
