An Indian Air Force officer and his wife were allegedly attacked by a group of men in Bengaluru on Sunday evening when Wing Commander Aditya Bose and his wife, Squadron Leader Madhumita, were driving to the airport from the DRDO Colony in CV Raman Nagar.
Wing Commander Bose shared a video on his Instagram account describing the incident, in which he claimed that a biker began following their vehicle and verbally abusing them in Kannada.
In the Instagram video, Wing Commander Bose, his face and neck smeared with blood from his injuries, alleged that the biker abruptly stopped his vehicle in front of their car and began shouting abuses at them in Kannada.
Bose claimed that upon noticing the DRDO sticker on their car, the attacker became more aggressive and began verbally abusing his wife as well. When Bose stepped out of the vehicle to confront him, the biker allegedly struck him on the forehead with a key. He then reportedly threw a stone at their vehicle, hitting Bose on the head again. In the video, Wing Commander Bose recounted the entire incident and expressed his disappointment that, instead of helping, bystanders hurled abuse at him and his wife.
Netizens Reactions On IAF Officer Attack in Bengaluru
In a post on X, former Chinar Corps Commander Lieutenant General (Retd.) KJS Dhillon highlighted that a defence officer is typically posted to 10–15 different states during their service. He questioned whether it is reasonable to expect these officers to learn the language of each state before they can lay down their lives to protect the nation and its people.
"Banglore - Always knew it as a beautiful city with wonderful ppl living in peace & harmony. A defence forces officer gets posted to 10 - 15 states during his service … Does he have to learn the language of each state before he lays down his life protecting his Nation including the people of that state?" he said.
Major Manik M Jolly (retd) expressed his concern, stating that the "speak Kannada" issue is really getting out of hand. "This - speak Kannada- thing is really getting out of hand ! A serving Wing Commander posted in DRDO, Bangalore was attacked viciously now. Soldiers serve across the nation doing their duties. It’s shameful that a state would treat them this way," he wrote on X.
"Absolutely shameful. But just saying so won't do. The culprits have to be brought to book and an example set. Also the Centre needs to consider legislating on methodology to control and eliminate such regional and linguistic fanaticism. Enough is enough," said another army veteran.
“Nothing can be more sickening than this. Karnataka is off the bucket list of many tourists and companies planning to have their presence or are already there. I too stand by this gentleman from DRDO and for me like many others, it should be Nation first and not this kind of violence,” another X user wrote.
After the video went viral on social media, the Bengaluru police took note of it and began verifying the details. They were also attempting to establish contact with the victim to carry out a thorough investigation.