Staffers of the Rachana petrol pump station on Mysuru Road have been booked for allegedly assaulting a 48-year-old schoolteacher who objected to a minor boy working as an attendant .
P.V. Chikka Thimmaiah, a resident of Bapujinagar and a schoolteacher, was returning home from work and stopped at the petrol pump.
He noticed a minor boy working as an attendant and asked him about his age. As the boy was reluctant to reply, he approached the manager and objected to the boy working as an attendant and informed him that it amounts to child labour.
The accused, later identified as Madesha, took him to the chamber to get the ID proof of the boy. The other staff members soon gathered and started hurling abuses and intimidating him. When Mr. Thimmaiah tried to get away, the accused snatched the key of his scooter and began to punch and kick him.
He managed to escape and ran out from the station and took shelter at the basement of a residential apartment nearby, before calling the control room to report the incident, the police said.
A Hoysala patrolling vehicle reached the petrol pump and with the help of the police, Mr. Thimmaiah took his scooter and went to the station to file a complaint.
He requested the police to provide security to him and his family since the accused have threatened him with dire consequences .
The police have registered a case of assault and criminal intimidation and are investigating.
Meanwhile, the manager of the petrol pump also filed a counter-complaint stating that Mr. Thimmaiah, on the pretext of the child labour issue, created a ruckus and demanded money. He also alleged that due to the ruckus he had created, the petrol pump has incurred business loss to the tune of ₹1 lakh.
