Beware!'Thak-Thak' gang on a roll in B'luru

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: They follow your vehicle and peep inside to see if there is something valuable.

They apply various tactics and divert your attention mostly on the deserted roads at night and rob you of your valuables and cash.

All they want is you to get out of your vehicle. After Delhi, it seems that Bengaluru has its own 'Thak-Thak' gang terrorizing and extorting motorists while also posing a challenge to the police here.

The number of such incidents are increasing day by day. An education researcher, Pranay Kotasthane, who was returning home in his car, stopped at Queens Road signal only to encounter a person on a two-wheeler accusing Kotasthane of running over his leg.

"I'm a cautious slow driver and I was surprised by the person's claims. Anyway I apologised to him profusely thinking that it may have been an inadvertent mistake. But the man got more aggressive and started uttering expletives," Pranay said.

Pranay remained calm and drove away without stopping further that night. However two days later, he had the same experience again around 5:30 pm with two other guys riding on a scooter near Pulikeshinagar.

"The riders swerved ahead of my car and attempted to stop me. I applied the brakes to avoid hitting the scooter. The guys started banging on my car windows making the same accusations. I was shocked when two more men joined these miscreants and among them was the person whom I encountered on July 2, near Queens Road," Pranay said.

Luckily, a few metres away from the spot, Pranay noticed several traffic police officers and drove towards them. The miscreants on two separate two-wheelers sped away when they saw him talking to the police.

"When I explained the matter to the cops, they asked me to file a complaint. I had a dashcam on my car and was able to identify the registration number of the twowheelers," Pranay said. The police have launched a manhunt to nab these miscreants.

Lately, many residents have fallen victim to such brazen robberies. In other incidents, the gang lures the driver to come out of the vehicle by throwing money or saying that oil is leaking from the radiator or the tyre is punctured. When the driver comes out of the vehicle, they take out bags that contain valuables such as laptops or cash.

They also have different approaches like becoming a pedestrian and alleging that the car has hit them. A couple were recently harassed by two men who deliberately crashed into their car and followed them until they reached their house on Sarjapur Road.

Two men accused in the case were later arrested.