‘India Is Not A Safe Country’: Startup Founder Claims He Almost Got Killed In Bengaluru

A shocking incident in Bengaluru left a startup founder fearing for his life after a near-fatal encounter with a water tanker. Dhruv Bhatia, the founder of LocalPanda, took to X (formerly Twitter) to recount the harrowing experience. Dhruv Bhatia explained that he narrowly escaped being “hit twice by the same vehicle”. The first close call occurred while he was walking along the roadside, where the tanker nearly grazed him. When Dhruv confronted the driver, he alleged that the driver then attempted to run him over a second time. The incident took place at Kudlu Gate in South Bengaluru.

“I almost got killed (on purpose in cold blood) in Bangalore today I didn’t want to post this, but since this is the first time something like this happened to me, I thought it’s my moral responsibility to post it,” Dhruv wrote on X.

“I was walking outside my apt complex in Kudlu Gate when a water tank tempo almost hit me when I was walking on the side of the street… Angry, I yelled at the tempo driver as I was shocked that he came so close.”

Dhruv further described how the situation escalated after he confronted the temp driver. According to him, the driver initially stopped the vehicle and waited for Dhruv and “yelled back” at him.

“I yelled back and said: ‘You almost ran me over a*******’ (in Hindi),” the founder said. Following a brief exchange of heated words, Dhurv began to walk away, only to realise that the driver was steering the tempo off the road, aiming straight at him.

“I had to jump to the extreme left very quickly and being a large tempo he couldn’t manoeuvre it further left which is why I survived otherwise this would have been ‘just another hit-and-run case’. There was only one onlooker present and the tempo quickly left the scene,” he added.

Dhruv stated his reason for posting about the alarming incident, writing, “I have seen a certain disregard of fear of law and humanity in a certain % of our population because of which some people can commit heinous acts very easily…”

“While I had heard of countless such cases happening with women across the country, this is the first time someone tried to kill me in cold blood on purpose… India is not a safe country at all and you may not believe this, but just one small argument could be your last breath,” he added.

He concluded advising, “Do not get into any arguments with any stranger…some people have 0 regard for human life or laws.”

Dhruv’s incident left many social media users shocked. In the comment section, one user commented, “This is not just Bengaluru. This is the entire country. I learnt this the hard way.”

“Glad that you are safe! On Indian Roads, it’s better not to argue or try to fix everything. Have seen rages involving school buses as well,” another user advised.

Someone else shared, “Just 2 days ago I got into an argument with a loser honking behind me trying to overtake when the road is damaged and I can’t drive fast, looking at this story I shouldn’t have argued.”

Dhruv’s post has received over 1.4 million views so far.