The fact that the Bengaluru-Mysuru old highway has not been touched for so many years is due to the police investigating the case and looking into the robbery. The truck driver was fired at by one of his friends who tried to stop his vehicle early in the morning, police said.
Shankar was transporting a consignment of medicines from Bengaluru to Mandya in a container truck, police sources said. While driving along the old Bengaluru-Mysuru highway, he was confronted by a group of men in a luxury car who tried to block his vehicle.
The investigators believe that the group wanted the truck to stop, but Shankar, who was alone inside the vehicle, did not sense danger. He kept driving to escape the situation. This apparently enraged one of the accused, the son of an influential businessman from Mandya, said the investigators.
The police say that during the confrontation, a shot was fired toward the moving truck. The bullet didn’t hit the driver, and Shankar survived without any injury. But the terror of this experience was so bad that it left him shaking.
The truck driver did not report the incident to the police at first because he was scared and panicking. Residents and travellers began talking about the purported highway shooting, and the authorities were listening. Mandya Rural Police were quick to find the truck driver, record his statement and file an official complaint.
Police conducted an operation and detained the businessman’s son late Thursday night, the complaint said. He is now in the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) office and is being questioned to figure out what could be behind the incident, he said in a statement.
One of the most pressing questions is why the accused and his associates were found on the highway at such an early hour in a luxury car. The group was probably committing a robbery or doing some other illegal activity, which investigators were examining at the time.
The second big news is that the gun used in the shooting may have been illegally acquired. Preliminary information suggests that the accused had no license for the weapon. That's why investigators are looking at how he got the gun and whether he’s broken any arms laws.
Mandya residents say they’re worried about rowdy behaviour and criminal activities by local gangs. Citizens are worried that the boldness of such acts is increasing, especially along high-volume highways used by thousands of commuters and transport operators day in and day out.
The police have assured the public that an investigation is ongoing. A case is being registered at Mandya Rural Police Station, and work is going on to find all those involved. There will be severe action if evidence confirms the allegations of attempted robbery, illegal possession of firearms and attempted assault, police have said.
The case once again raised fears about highway safety and criminal activities on Karnataka’s roads and about a more aggressive approach to solve it.
