shopkeeper

HR consultant

Bengaluru

Bangalore

The fight was a result of miscommunication between the complainant and accused. Officials are in search of the accused. We suspect they are local residents of the area ­ – A police official

By Amit KumarDhruv Gupta was assaulted by a gang when he spoke to ain Hindi, working at a private firm in, was assaulted by a group of men because he could not speak in Kannada. The incident took place near Corporation Bank in RT Nagar on July 24. Dhruv Gupta (35), the victim and his two friends had gone to a shop in RT Nagar around 11.30 pm to buy cigarettes. When Dhruv spoke to the shopkeeper and asked him for cigarettes in Hindi, a group of five to six men standing nearby heard him and didn’t like it.One of the men from that group interrupted the conversation between Dhruv and the shopkeeper and told Dhruv to speak in Kannada. When Dhruv ignored him, the accused came up to Dhruv, addressed him directly and demanded that he speak in Kannada. Dhruv replied that he did not know Kannada as he is from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh but is trying to learn the language after shifting to Bengaluru.But Dhruv’s explanation did not go well with the accused, who started abusing Dhruv in Kannada. This is when the argument turned violent. One of the men who was with the accused, and holding a helmet in his hand, assaulted Dhruv with it leaving him with a bleeding nose. Two of Dhruv’s friends who were with him, intervened and joined the fight but they were assaulted by the gang.Speaking toMirror, the victim Dhruv Gupta said, “They took up the fight with me for no reason. All of them we drunk and were speaking in the local language. There was a bar beside the cigarette shop and I think all of them had been to the bar. When I told them that I didn’t know Kannada, they assaulted me badly. First I thought that their intention was to rob me, but they were actually assaulting me for speaking in Hindi. I suffered a serious injury on my nose and visited the Baptist hospital for treatment. These kind of incidents prove that outsiders are not safe in Bengaluru anymore. Police should take strict action against those who create trouble for outsiders.”One of the officials from the RT Nagar police station told Bangalore Mirror, “The accused have not yet been identified, but they seem to be local residents of the area. The fight took place due to some miscommunication between the complainant and the accused. Officials are in search of the accused and investigations are going on.”A FIR has been registered at the RT Nagar police station under the sections 341(Punishment for wrongful restraint), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 324 (Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means).