A 45-second video of the purported incident has now gone viral on social media platforms but the accused are yet to be arrested. A former Army man, who now works as a builder, was booked along with his aide in an alleged incident of road rage on the Mumbai-Goa highway after he brandished his licensed pistol and assaulted the driver of a bus. A 45-second video of the purported incident has now gone viral on social media platforms but the accused are yet to be arrested.
The incident took place on January 27 around 1:40 pm near Vadkhal in Raigad district. The accused, Lokesh Kadam, 47, is a resident of Panvel and a native of Pune. Kadam, according to the police, has served in the Indian Army in the past.
He was moving in his car towards Vadkhal from Pen when a bus carrying workers of a company brushed against his car on one side.
Kadam and the bus driver Rakesh Ghosalkar, 38, entered an argument while on the move and the former asked Ghosalkar to pull over but he denied saying he is carrying passengers and cannot stop.
Ghosalkar also suggested Kadam to note down the registration number of the bus and approach the police if he wants to complain and he will present himself at the police station.
This enraged Kadam who then chased the bus in his car for several kilometre and blocked its path on a bridge forcing the bus to come to a halt. He and his assistant Yogesh Mhatre, 35, then barged into the bus and started abusing, threatening and assaulting the driver while Kadam wielded his pistol.
Ghosalkar told The Indian Express, βHe (Kadam) hit me on the head above the right side of my eye and I started bleeding from the eyebrow. They duo then slapped me, hit me on the back and on my leg. He (Kadam) also pointed a gun at me and told me, maloom hai mein kaun hoon? (Do you know who I am?). After the incident I drove the bus for nearly a kilometre to my office to drop off the workers and then approached the police. I do not know what statement the police took down but I signed it without reading.β
Incidentally, as per the FIR, there is no mention of Kadam using his gun to threaten and assault Ghosalkar. The police have booked him under IPC Sections 324, 34, 341, 504 and 506 for assault, threat and abuse. The police have not booked the accused under the Indian Arms Act.
βWe have seized the firearm and the bullets from the accused. The accused have been booked and served a notice,β said Bala Kumbhar, a senior police officer of Vadhkhal police station.
A cross FIR has been registered at Pen police station against the bus driver on a complaint from Kadam for rash and negligent driving.
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