Kamal Ghorui
BENGALURU: What a passer-by reported as a road crash turned out to be bone-chilling act of murder on Ananthnagar Road in Electronics City late Sunday evening. The deceased, Prashanth M, 33, and accused, Roshan Hegde, 36, were friends, said police. Roshan works as a software engineer with a firm in Domlur. The murder came to light when M Narayana, DCP (Electronics City), noticed the car dashcam and ordered the footage to be examined. Police said Roshan intentionally crashed the SUV twice to kill Prashanth — who was clinging to the front-left side of the car — after driving for 600 metres.
Prashanth was a resident of Veerasandra in Electronics City. Roshan is a resident of Vignananagar and a native of Udupi district.Based on a complaint by Prashanth’s mother Anu, police have registered a murder case against Roshan.A passerby mistook the scene for a road crash and alerted police, following which, Roshan was rushed to a hospital. The case was initially treated as an accident until M Narayana, DCP (Electronics City), noticed the dashcam on the vehicle and ordered the footage to be examined.Dashcam footage revealed that Roshan had suddenly accelerated and deliberately rammed the vehicle, an SUV, first against a compound wall and then reversed and crashed it again against a tree. In the twin blows, victim Prashanth, who was clinging on the vehicle from outside, suffered serious injuries and died on the spot.“After confirming it was an intentional act, we went to the hospital where Roshan was undergoing treatment. Doctors informed us that his tongue was almost severed and that he underwent a minor surgery. He was discharged on Monday and was taken into custody for interrogation,” Narayana told TOI.Police said a group of men had gathered to play cricket in Kammasandra on Sunday evening and later consumed alcohol. In a drunken stupor, Prashanth allegedly approached Roshan, seeking a lighter and abused him, triggering an argument. “In a fit of rage, Roshan assaulted Prashanth and both attacked each other with beer bottles. As the situation escalated, Roshan got into his Tata Safari and tried to leave,” the police officer said.As Roshan drove away, Prashanth jumped onto the SUV’s left footboard and clung on to the front-left window. Dashcam footage showed Roshan initially driving around 35 kmph before accelerating on a deserted stretch, ramming the vehicle into a compound wall, reversing it, and crashing into a tree.Police said the dashcam also captured the two abusing and threatening each other, adding that Sunday’s altercation was the fallout of a feud during a cricket match played Saturday.
