Rowdy bikers lose their ‘kick’

In a major breakthrough, cops have busted the biker gang that had been giving sleepless nights to car owners by damaging windscreens and window panes of parked cars at night.
After a keeping a close watch on suspected teens and college students in Satellite and Vastrapur, officials of DCP-zone 1 squad nabbed 10 'rebels without cause', including eight minors.

According to the cops, in the last six months, the biker gang had damaged more than 50 cars in areas like Satellite, Anandnagar, Vastrapur, Mansi Circle, Ambawadi, Naranpura and Usmanpura. Based on CCTV footage captured at Naranpura, cops identified four teenagers and picked them one after another in the last two days from their residences.       

According to Ajay Tomar, joint commissioner of Police (JCP) - sector 1, all the teenagers hail from middle income group and higher middle income group families, and study in well-known schools and colleges of the city.  Tomar said, "All these teenagers keep bad company and do not listen to their parents or elders anymore. They do what they wish to do. They turned to breaking car glasses just for some fun. They also wanted to impress their friends." Tomar has sought the help of some psychiatrists to know the reason behind their destructive mindset.

"To secure better future for them, we will send them to psychiatrists at Civil Hospital. We want to know why they turned to such destructive activities. We have also learnt that many of the accused were rankers in their Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams. However, they got involved in wrong activities, and were distracted. They either failed in Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exam or scored very less," said Tomar.

Among the 10 arrested are the ringleader Rishi Vyas, 21, a resident of Parn Kunj apartment in Ambawadi and Abhinav Modh, 18, resident of Parth Duplex in Paldi.

According to the cops, Rishi has been consistently good at studies. He acquired 82% in SSC and 72% in HSC. Currently, he is studying in the final year of Bachelor of Engineering  - Electronics and Communication at Ahmedabad Institute of Technology.

Abhinav on the other hand failed twice in HSC exams after acquiring 78% in SSC exams. Currently, he is in the second semester of a diploma course. Since Abhinav's exams are on, cops have allowed him to appear in the exams. It is also learnt that all the eight minors are studying in well-known English medium schools. However, they used to roam around late in the night. The boys would tell their parents that they were going to their friend's place to study. At other times, they would lie about going out for tea with friends. Once out, they would gather at coffee bars and then proceed to implement their destructive ideas.

Police also learnt that the gang members before going ahead with their plan would check the presence of cops in a particular area. Cops have recovered five of their vehicles, including one CBR-250 bike, three Activa and a 100cc bike. Among these, two Activa and CBR-250 did not have registration numbers. It may be recalled that the gang members used to roam during the night and damage window panes of parked cars with stones and sticks.

How the hooligans were caught

Satellite police sources said that a long standing financial feud was the gang's undoing.
The matter between a bookie and a young boy was settled by a constable of Satellite police, one of the key members in busting the gang, who asked the boy to become his informer. Based on that boy's inputs, the constable learnt that the gang usually meets at coffee bars on SG Highway like the Danny coffee bar or the Shambhu coffee bar. The constable was also informed that the one of the gang members also uses a Honda CBR-250 bike which has wings stickers on it.
Three days back the constable also located the gang, sitting at the parking lot of Karnavati club. However, the gang somehow managed to escape before the constable could nab them during late night. The constable said he took help of more than 20 such young informers, who used to sit at different locations to provide inputs. After keeping a close watch on them for more than two weeks, cops finally managed to nab the entire gang. The gang comprises around 15 members, and many of them are still out of the clutch, cops said. One of the gang members is in Goa, and this minor member was also one of the main ring leaders, cops said.

One of the minor was involved in kidnapping

It was learnt from sources that one of the eight minor accused was also questioned earlier for alleged involvement in the kidnapping of Yash Tahkkar. 17-year-old Yash was kidnapped by a group of PG students six months back. The cops had detained the minor for his alleged involvement and later released him after questioning. It is also learnt that one such minor accused has also played national-level football as part of his school team.

Parents deny involvement of sons

After the arrest of members of the biker gang on Thursday, a crowd of parents could be seen at Satellite police station. Many parents deny the involvement of their wards in the crime. Some of them even alleged that their minor sons were picked up from tuition classes without their knowledge. Abhinav Modh, one of the accused, claimed that he used to just sit behind the bike, but was never involved in damaging the cars.

Two more cars targeted by the bikers

Just when the cops heaved a sigh of relief after nabbing biker gang members, they received news of two more cars damaged near Manekbaug area. According to V Chandrashekhar, DCP-Zone 1, the incident might have been the work of other members of the same gang, who are still at large. It is believed that four to six other members are still roaming freely.