BENGALURU: A 41-year-old fruit vendor survived after his rivals hacked him 68 times with iron straps in the middle of a road.Santosh R, alias Hotte Hasi, of Agrahara Dasarahalli off Magadi Road, was allegedly attacked by Suresh and his gang.Santosh, a painter, is one of the accused facing charges of murdering Suresh’s elder brother Mohan last year, police said.The attack on Santosh took place in the evening of March 9. Earlier in the day, Santosh appeared before a court in Kollegal, where the murder case trial is ongoing. Santosh was walking towards his house after alighting from a BMTC bus.“Suresh and his three associates, Sharat, Ravi and Manja, were consuming alcohol in a bar when Suresh saw Santosh. Memories of his murdered brother haunted him. Drawing their attention to Santosh, Suresh told them the story. All four decided to beat up Santosh. Two of them walked out with an empty beer bottle, while the other two took metal straps from a hardware shop. In all, they assaulted Santosh 68 times, danced when he fell, and fled. Santosh was shifted to a nearby private hospital,” an investigating officer said.
