Visakhapatnam: The Visakhapatnam police were caught napping when more than 300 youths assembled in the heart of the city on Saturday night and went berserk on their bikes fitted with modified silencers. One of them attacked and injured an RTC driver.
On Monday, the police arrested 40 youngsters and seized 39 bikes, including scooters, high-end bikes, and other two-wheelers.
The arrests were made after a few videos of them engaging in bike stunts, racing, blocking the roads, damage of public property and assault on an APSRTC bus driver went viral.
The Three-Town police identified 96 youngsters involved in the bike stunts and racing.
ACP (East) Harshitha said around 300 bike-riders gathered at one place, indulged in rash and dangerous driving, stunts and blocked the road in between RTC complex and Swarnabharati indoor stadium on July 9 night and caused inconvenience to the people.
One of them, Hemanth Kumar, intercepted an RTC bus, damaged the wiper and assaulted its driver. Later, the bike riders went to Siripuram and Beach Road. Based on the videos and CCTV footage, the police identified some bike riders and arrested 40 of them, including Hemanth the team leader.
Investigations revealed that the bike riders in groups (100 to 200) used to indulge in bike racings and bike stunts on the beach road during odd hours on weekends.
Among the 40 arrested, seven were sent to remand. Some 20 of the group were students, 12 employed youths and a few belonged to general categories.
On investigation, it was found that a youngster identified as Chelluru Upendra was the inspiration behind the two-wheeler stunts. He had circulated the July 9 programme on social media.
DCP (law and order) Sumit Garud said Upendra has more than 25,000 followers on Instagram. “We would register criminal cases against the youths,’’ he said.
Last week, the city police crushed 630 modified silencers using a road roller.
