Locals take Haryana tourists to task after they beat up a tipper driver

MANALI: A group of tourists from Haryana badly beat up a truck driver with a steel rod after overtaking him and obstructing him. They, in turn, were manhandled by a local mob angry over their behaviour and damaged their car.

According to witnesses, the Haryana group, driving towards Manali in their car, suddenly overtook a tipper and stopped in front of it at Sharabai in Kullu . The occupants rushed towards the tipper driver and started beating him up. The tipper driver picked up a rod for selfdefence but one of the tourists snatched it and hit the driver on his head.

With torn clothes and blood oozing out, the tipper driver was trying to escape when some local rafting operators and residents came to his help and the ensuing confrontation between the locals and tourists led to a huge traffic jam on the national highway.

The tourists tried to intimidate the locals, but the angry mob manhandled them and broke the windows and windscreens of their vehicle.

Kullu DSP Ashish Sharma said a cross-FIR has been registered. “Prima facie the incident looks like a road-rage case where the row started upon overtaking. As the tourists manhandled the tipper driver, the local residents beat up the four persons from Haryana. We are investigating the matter,” he said.

