Three men assaulted and stabbed a 39-year-old army officer at the Phase 7 market for overtaking their car in the city’s second case of road rage in just five days.
Major Mandeep Singh Panaich was driving his Hyundai i10 home when he noticed a Toyota Innova parked in the middle of the road in Phase 7, Mohali. He decided to pass the SUV in order to avoid an accident.
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The victim, Major Mandeep Singh Panaich, a Phase 9 resident, was left bleeding on the road but was able to make it home and called the Mataur police the following day. However, four days after the August 26 attack, authorities have still not located the suspect.
In his testimony to the police, Panaich said that while stationed in Jaipur, he was on leave from August 24 to 27 and was visiting his family in Mohali.
On August 26, he celebrated his father’s birthday by dining out with his family. Around 1.15 am, he dropped off his sister and niece in Landran.
He was driving home when he saw a Toyota Innova parked in the center of Phase 7. In order to prevent a collision, he circled the SUV. This infuriated the three individuals in the Innova, who then began after him in the SUV.
In order to avoid confrontation, he switched off his car’s headlights and parked it behind the Phase 7 market from 3.10 am to 3.16 am.
However, the trio kept hunting for him. He then decided to talk to the men and stepped out of his car. But before he had a chance to respond, the accused began cursing at him before beating him up and kicking him in the knees. Panaich claimed that when they became enraged, they pulled out a sharp weapon and stabbed him in the stomach, which made him unconscious.
After some time, he managed to regain consciousness. He went back home and the following day lodged a complaint at the Mataur police station.
Mataur police station SHO Gabbar Singh said police were scanning CCTV footage from cameras installed in the locality for leads about the accused.
A complaint has been filed against the fugitive suspect under Sections 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 323 (assault), 341 (wrongful restraint), 294 (obscene acts and songs), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
A 42-year-old doctor was assaulted in a similar manner on August 21 in Sector 8 of Panchkula after confronting the driver of the car for hitting his vehicle. He was manhandled and carried for 50 meters on the bonnet of the car.
