As road rage cases take violent turn in Bengaluru, 17 make it to rowdy list | Bengaluru News
Bengaluru: From brawls triggered by splashing rainwater to fatal confrontations on the road, Bengaluru has seen a steady rise in cases of road rage over the past 3.5 years. Between 2022 and May 2025, police registered 88 such cases across the city, leading to the arrest of 123 people, including two women.Seventeen of those arrested have been listed as ‘C-rowdy sheeters’, a category meant for first-time offenders whose behaviour during the incident is seen as particularly aggressive or threatening. Some of these individuals, including professionals with no prior criminal record, followed their victims to their homes or offices after the altercation, attacked them again, or extorted money through death threats. In a few instances, attackers went as far as vandalising the victim’s home after the initial roadside confrontation. “These 17 persons acted beyond reason. They threatened their opponents aggressively, which is why we categorised them as C-rowdies. We’ll monitor them for a year. If there are no further incidents, the rowdy-sheet will be closed,” a senior cop said.Recent cases In the last week of May, a businessman in the city lost part of his fingers in a road-rage incident near Railway Colony on Magadi Road, after his car splashed rainwater on to another vehicle. The attacker bit his fingers during the scuffle, forcing the victim to undergo surgery costing around Rs 2 lakh.In another case, from Aug 2024 in Vidyaranyapura, a 21-year-old food delivery executive died on the spot after a speeding car rammed into his two-wheeler. Investigation revealed the car was intentionally driven into him following an instance of road rage.Women involved tooPolice records also show two significant cases of women being involved in violent road rage. In Jan 2023, a techie in Jnanabharathi was arrested on attempted murder charges after she drove 4km with a man clinging to her bonnet. The altercation began with her jumping a traffic signal and the man blocking her car.A couple of months ago in Bellandur, a woman from Bihar was filmed repeatedly hitting an autorickshaw driver with her slippers after a wheel of his vehicle allegedly ran over her foot. She later told police she lost her temper as she was pregnant at the time.According to additional commissioner of police (crime) Chandragupta, road rage is often a mix of frustration, anger, and ego. “In 99% of cases of road rage, the parties involved are strangers. The argument starts over a minor road-related issue but escalates because neither side can control their emotions. Often, family members or bystanders influence the situation, worsening it,” he told TOI. When asked why people risk legal trouble despite knowing the consequences, he said: “In that moment, the aggressor is in a reactive mode. Legal consequences do not register.”Delivery agent assaulted at traffic signalA 35-year-old food delivery agent was assaulted by three men near Modi Hospital Junction on West of Chord Road around midnight Saturday. The incident occurred after the delivery agent, Pemaram, refused to give way at a red signal.Pemaram, a resident of Rajajinagar, had just completed a delivery and was heading towards Navarang Theatre. At the junction, while waiting for the green signal, three men on a scooter honked and asked him to move through a narrow gap between vehicles. When he refused, they confronted him.“The trio got down from the scooter, started abusing me and then assaulted me. They beat me for nearly eight minutes,” Pemaram told police.A crowd eventually gathered, forcing the attackers to flee. The assault disrupted traffic briefly at the junction.Pemaram sought treatment at KC General Hospital before lodging a complaint with Basaveshwaranagar police. Cops said efforts are on to trace and arrest the trio.
