How 'fear of wife' made Sikkim man in Bengaluru cook up ‘racial attack’ story

Dinesh Subba, 31, was found by the Bengaluru police lying on a street with grievous injuries and writhing in pain on the night of Independence Day. The man was allegedly assaulted by some unknown assailants while he was on his way home after celebrating his marriage anniversary with some friends. He was attacked for his looks as the assailants called him "Chinese", he claimed.

Hailing from Rinchenpong town in Sikkim, Subba had shifted to the city a couple of months ago with his family to eke out a living, it was told.

Subba stayed in Dodda Toguru in the Southeast part of Bengaluru and was working as a waiter in a restaurant in Electronic City. He was found in a pool of blood, with injuries on his head, by the police patrol ‘Hoysala’ in the wee hours of August 16. He was promptly rushed to the hospital and treated before the police recorded his statement.

Police registered an FIR in the case. Media lapped up the story and the news was all over as the attack had a racial angle.

However, as the police began investigation into the alleged racial assault, for all media attention it has grabbed, they found a twist in the tale. The man had sustained injuries when he fell while trying to scale a house by an electric pole in inebriated condition. He was afraid of his wife and did not want her to know how he sustained injuries, so he fabricated the story.

In his statement to the police, he claimed while he was returning home when he was attacked by three unknown youths even as they called him ‘Chinese’. That evening his friends had asked him to throw a party to celebrate his wedding anniversary which fell on August 15. After finishing work at the restaurant around midnight, they went to a bar and partied there till 2 am. After leaving the bar, they talked for some time and then they all left for their homes, he told the police.

“At this time, three motorcycle-borne miscreants came from behind and drove past him shouting ‘Chinese, Chinese’. But I told them that I am an Indian. But they suddenly grabbed my clothes and assaulted me causing my face and head to bleed,” he stated to the police.

“I told them that I am not a Chinese. I am from Sikkim, but they thrashed me and fled away when I collapsed,” he told the police.

Police took the case seriously for it was allegedly a racial attack and after registering a case of assault, informed the Karnataka Home Minister's Office. Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang spoke to his Karnataka counterpart and sought strict action against the assailants. Tamang also sought the Karnataka chief minister’s intervention to safeguard Sikkim citizens in Bengaluru. There are many Sikkim youths working in different industries in the city.

After Sikkim chief minister’s call, the Karnataka Home Ministry took serious note of the alleged assault and directed the Director General of Police of Karnataka and the Police Commissioner of Bengaluru to take strict action against the assailants and safety of people from the Northeast working in Bengaluru.

While investigating the case, they stumbled upon a CCTV camera near the spot where Subba was allegedly “attacked”. To their shock, however, the CCTV footage told them a completely different story. The footage showed him trying to climb up a staircase to a building and falling to the ground. He sustained injuries on his face and head and began bleeding. It was clear from the CCTV footage that he was in an inebriated condition and no person attacked him near that spot.

The police went to the hospital where he was being treated and asked him to tell the truth. In the beginning, Subba repeated the same ‘Chinese’ story. But later when the police confronted him with the CCTV footage, he spilled the beans, even as he apologised to them.

He was afraid of his wife, he told the police, as she always scolded him for coming home late and drunk. After he and his friends had the party at the bar, he feared his wife will scold him, lost his way and instead climbed up a staircase of a building and fell. After police found him, one of his relatives came to the spot and he cooked up the story.

He might have tried to commit suicide out of fearing of his wife, a police official said. He was in an inebriated condition and we are not certain. The investigation is on. He looks innocent but lied to the police. We will take further action after reporting this to the higher-ups. We will be filing a B report to close the case in court, the official said.