Hyderabad: “The man who accosted me stated that my car hit his Activa on Hafeezpet flyover due to which his child had fallen down. I was sure that I didn’t hit any vehicle and when I stopped to explain, another man with the same claim joined the biker. I understood this was a scam and that this was a gang. Then I recalled that my other colleague was robbed of Rs 3,000 under the same pretext. Since many from my office take the Hafeezpet flyover, one of my colleagues soon arrived in support of me.’
This was the account of one of the several complainants filed with the Gachibowli police against a newly organised gang using a different modus operandi to rob commuters. Thegang members stop vehicles, abuse, create panic, infuse fear and say the vehicle had hit them and on this pretext, they try to extract money. All these incidents have happened in the Cyberabad limits.
Another similar incident was reported on November 5, on Masid Banda Road. This one ended up in a scuffle. In a complaint filed with the Cyberabad police, Mr. Niranjan stated, “At around 10 am while crossing Masid Banda road, a man wearing a blue shirt hit my car window. As the road was narrow I stopped, he came close to my window and used abusive language, claiming that I had hit him and that he was bleeding after being hit. But, for sure I knew that my vehicle did not hit anyone and that day the road was empty. When I asked him to show his wound, he began to abuse me. He claimed that his mother had fallen. When I tried to dial 100, he threatened to attack me and damage my car. I offered them Rs 500 but he demanded Rs 10,000. I refused. I then noticed a gang who had gathered around the car. One man picked up a brick to hit the car I managed to drive away. He still threw the brick at the car but it didn’t reach the car. I was followed by them up to Barfi Ghar.”
Niranjan mentioned that his colleague encountered the same gang on November 1 and they had identified the bikes. The complaints reported to the Cyberabad police have been forwarded to the concerned police stations. “The public is advised to save evidence like bike number, a picture of the person while reporting. Also, the department has been asked to keep a vigil and also install CC cameras,” said a senior official.
