BENGALURU: In a road-rage incident that took a horrific turn, a 77-year-old man was beaten to death for reprimanding a motorcyclist for riding recklessly near Palace Guttahalli area.

The senior citizen was on his way to a medical shop to buy anti-diabetic tablets when he was attacked.The incident is a pointer to waning tolerance levels among motorists in Bengaluru.The deceased has been identified as Krishnappa, a resident of Muneshwara Block.In fact, on November 16, police had registered a road-accident case in the incident, assuming that the elderly man had fallen off his scooter while on the way to the medical shop the previous night.

But the truth emerged later when Krishnappa's son Satish Kumar suspected foul play and examined CCTV footage of his house as the place where his father had fallen was nearby.

To his horror, he found a person arguing with his father and assaulting him.

Based on the footage, Vyalikaval police register a murder case on November 17.Cops tracked CCTV grabs from the locality and identify the accused as 35-year-old Sarfaraz Khan, a welder-cum-mechanic and a former resident of the area.

Police said Khan had shifted to RT Nagar area and would visit Palace Guttahalli often to catch up with his friends and party with them.

On November 15 night, he was riding towards Palace Guttahalli when Krishnappa set out for the medical store on his scooter around 8:30pm.

Police said Khan rammed his bike into Krishnappa's scooter.

The senior citizen almost lost balance and was about to fall.

An irked Krishnappa shouted at Khan and told him to ride properly.

Agitated, Khan hit Krishnappa with a stone while raining blows on him.

One of Khan's friends, Ratan, tried to stop him from attacking the old man but in vain, said police.

While Krishnappa collapsed on the road, the duo left the place.

A passerby alerted police and Krishnapa was shifted to a nearby hospital.

Subsequently, he was moved to Mahaveer Jain hospital, where he died.

Initially, police said it was a 'self-accident' and stated that the senior citizen wasn't wearing a helmet.

If not for Satish Kumar cross-checking the CCTV grabs, Khan would have probably escaped punishment.

A senior officer said, "We will open a rowdy sheet against Khan at the earliest."