Mumbai: Traffic came to a halt for almost 20 minutes on Yari Road in Versova, Andheri (W), on Monday evening after a scooterist allegedly blocked a BEST bus, collared the driver, and repeatedly slapped him in a road rage incident.Khar police arrested Devchand Chachar (28), seized his scooter, and booked him under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Motor Vehicles Act for criminal intimidation and traffic violations. He, however, allowed to go after being served a notice as the offences slapped on him attracted less than seven years’ jail.In his police complaint, the victim, Tulshiram Bharade (55), said: “I was driving on A-200 bus route from Yari Road via Khar Link Road towards Wadala. At Khar Link Road, there was another BEST bus ahead of me and I was following it, maintaining a safe distance. At 7.15pm, near Khatwari Darbar temple on Khar station road, a scooterist came at high speed from a one-way street and entered the space between the two buses to cross the main road.”Bharade immediately applied the brakes to avoid hitting the scooter.However, Chachar parked his scooter in front of the bus horizontally and pulled the driver by his collar out of the bus. He allegedly kept abusing and slapping Bharade for not giving him way even as passengers and onlookers intervened.The altercation lasted for nearly 20 minutes till police arrived after bus conductor Janardan Koli called ‘100’ for assistance. Bharade said, “They took the scooterist and the vehicle to the police station. By then I called our traffic control room in Wadala and informed them about the incident. We shifted all passengers to another bus and Koli and I went to the police station to file a complaint.”A police officer said, “Chachar claimed that he got annoyed when Bharade did not give enough space for his scooter to reach the main road. He also claimed that he did not realise his action would lead to such serious consequences.”
