Two held for assaulting priest, relative in road rage incident

MUMBAI: Two people were arrested by Kandivali Police on Monday in connection with the road rage incident where a group of four had assaulted a priest and his relative with sticks and knives on Saturday. Special police teams have been formed to hunt down the remaining accused persons.

The arrested duo has been identified as Pratham Khillare, 22, and Chhotu Maniar, 22.

On Saturday, the complainant, Ashishkumar Dube, 34, was riding a scooter with his relative, Ajit Agnihotri, seated pillion, at Kandivali. The duo was returning after Dube had performed a puja at a client's house. Around 10.45 pm, they had reached Abhilakh Nagar when a motorcycle brushed their scooter. Dube and Agnihotri fell off. Dube suffered minor injuries to his leg and confronted the motorcyclist. This sparked an argument and the two men clashed before the motorcyclist left. Dube sat on the pavement for a while as his leg had swollen. After 15 minutes, he got up and resumed the journey with Agnihotri on the scooter.

Around 11 pm, the two had reached Laljipada when the motorcyclist came up again. He began to verbally abuse Dube, questioning why he had hit him earlier. Three men, in the age group of 20 to 30 years, joined the motorcyclist. One of them brought out a knife from his pocket and tried to stab Dube in the abdomen. But Dube moved and the knife brushed his ribs. He was injured. Another accused struck Dube with a bamboo stick. He also chased Agnihotri before beating him up with the stick. The group rained blows on Dube and Agnihotri.

On learning about the incident, a police team visited the location and moved Dube to the hospital. On Sunday, a video clip of the incident went viral and drew sharp reactions. The police then summoned Dube to record his statement. An FIR was registered on Sunday against four people on charges of an attempt to commit murder.