HM Chaithanya Swamy By Express News Service BENGALURU: A 44-year-old environmentalist was attacked with a dagger and robbed of his gold chain by an autorickshaw driver recently. Police said that the driver is part of a gang which gets into fights with motorists before robbing them of their valuables. The injured is Tirumal Kumar, a resident of HSR Layout. On September 7, Kumar was near City Mandi Vegetable Vendor junction in HSR Layout when he noticed an autorickshaw driver going the wrong way. He almost hit Kumar, who was on his bike. The driver took a U-turn and blocked Kumar’s way and started arguing with him. After arguing for a few minutes, Kumar left. However, the driver followed him till a dark and isolated place and waylaid Kumar. “I asked the driver what his problem was. He got down from his vehicle and held my collar while brandishing a dagger at me. He slashed my forehead and neck, and managed to pull my chain off,” Kumar told TNIE. “I ran behind his autorickshaw to take a photo, but he was too fast. I memorised the last four digits of his licence plate,” added Kumar. The next day, Kumar went to the police station and informed them about the incident. The day after that, he saw the same autorickshaw driver fighting with another biker at the same location, with a few other autorickshaw drivers. Though Kumar called police, the driver had escaped before they arrived. Kumar filed a complaint on September 11. An officer from HSR Layout police station said, “We have taken up a case against the driver. The driver and his associates regularly target motorists by driving the wrong way before getting into an argument and robbing them.”

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