Sixty-two-year-old Ashis Baran Mandal, a Bengaluru-based retired pharma consultant, was driving from Ashoka Pillar towards Lalbagh’s west gate when two bike-borne men appeared beside his car. The men, who appeared to be in their twenties, yelled at him claiming that he had hit and injured one of them and demanded immediate compensation. After a 15-minute ordeal, Ashis was finally allowed to leave but only after he had shelled out Rs 30,000, even though he was confident that he had not hit the bike.
Similar to Delhi’s notorious ‘Thak Thak’ gang that targets commuters, these Bengaluru scamsters operate in various areas but are largely focused on the IT corridor. Ashis isn’t their only victim. TNM spoke to at least seven people who have gone through the same nightmare and what emerges is a clear pattern.
On July 2, Pranay Kotasthane, a 38-year-old public policy researcher, was driving down Queen’s Road around 8.30 am. It was a Sunday and the road was more or less empty. Pranay turned at the Queen’s Road signal towards Alliance Française de Bangalore when a man on a scooter started banging on Pranay’s window. “The man, who seemed to be in his early thirties, came on my right side and started hitting on the window. So I rolled down my window to ask what happened. He said I had run over his leg. I’m a cautious, slow driver, so I was really surprised, especially as I had turned slowly after the vehicles ahead of us had moved. In any case, I stopped and apologised profusely. But as soon as I did that, the man became more aggressive and started hurling abuses,” Pranay recounted.
Pranay managed to drive away but the two-wheeler rider chased him for around 800 m before eventually turning into another street. However, Pranay’s ordeal didn’t end then.
Just two days later, he was driving down Wheeler Road near Thom’s Bakery when he recognised the same man who had previously tried to scam him. This time, the man swerved his scooter in front of Pranay forcing him to brake. Then his accomplice, who was on another scooter, used the same scam tactic. He banged on Pranay’s car windows and accused him of hitting his two-wheeler.
This time, however, Pranay was alert. Familiar with the road, he stopped his car in front of a traffic policeman. “The policeman told me this was a common fraud and that I should register a complaint,” Pranay said.
“The first time was doubly terrifying since my wife and three-year-old were with me. The scammers’ modus operandi is to do this at a traffic signal where you have to take a right turn. They will be on your right side, and once you take the turn, they stop you and claim that you have run over their leg. They do this mostly on deserted roads. The man showed me an injury, but it was not at all consistent with being run over by a vehicle,” he further explained.
Ashis’s son Manidip recounted how his father, who was driving alone, was threatened and released only after he paid up. Recalling the incident that took place in June 2022, Manidip said, “My father was extremely distressed and wanted to avoid escalating the situation. The men forced him to a nearby ATM, remaining with him throughout. Over several transactions, they pressured him into withdrawing all the money from his account. He ended up giving them Rs 30,000.”
Ashis opted not to lodge a police complaint, and even when his son insisted months later, he dismissed it as an old incident. Manidip added, “Since then, we have installed two dashcams in the car, one at the front and one at the back. We also keep pepper spray in the car at all times.”
These road scams in Bengaluru follow tactics similar to Delhi’s Thak Thak gang and the OG Kuppam gang from Andhra Pradesh to rob people. These gangs use distraction tactics to momentarily confuse or disorient their victims and divert their attention. While the victims are caught off guard, the gang members quickly steal their belongings, such as bags, wallets, and mobile phones. The Thak Thak gang operates primarily in north India, whereas the OG Kuppam gang moves around frequently and operates in various parts of south India.
In May 2023, Supriya Prakash, a 30-year-old biotechnologist, was travelling from her office in Bommasandra to Nexus Mall in Koramangala to watch a movie with two friends. Just as she was about to reach the mall, she noticed a car with a yellow number plate following her and honking at her. “I slowed, rolled down my window and asked him what the problem was. This man was in his late twenties or early thirties. He said that I had hit and damaged his car and asked for compensation,” Supriya said.
Having recently learnt to drive, Supriya was extra cautious and knew she had not hit him. She realised she was being scammed when the man moved away from her car on seeing a policeman nearby. After moving past the police officer, the driver chased her again and forced her to stop her car. “He got down from his car and kept insisting that I get down as well and look at the damage to his car. I did not get down, but I could see that his car’s front was pretty damaged with many bumps and scratches. But there was no way I could have caused it,” Supriya said, adding that the man also clicked a photo of her and her car.
With the mall entrance only a few metres away, Supriya managed to get away. “Once inside I made sure that he was not following me anymore and got down to check my car for any signs of an accident, but there were none. I was a little paranoid because he had my picture and my car’s number,” she said.
Like Ashis, Supriya also chose not to file a police complaint.
Ashok MP, a 31-year-old software engineer, went through an even more harrowing experience. On July 13, he was on his way home from office at 2.30 pm, travelling from Brookefield to Gunjur with two of his colleagues. On the new Gunjur 150-metre road, four motorcycles began chasing his car and moving in a zigzag manner in front of him. He attempted to honk at the riders to clear the way, but they positioned their bikes in front of the car until he was forced to stop.
“Three of them started verbally abusing us, banged on the car windows, and demanded to know why we were honking at them. They even tried to physically assault us, but I managed to reverse the car and go to my friend’s apartment, which was the closest. But they followed us there,” Ashok recounted. Upon reaching the apartment gate, Ashok and his colleagues were blocked by the riders, who then proceeded to break the driver’s window and assault Ashok on his head and neck.
The assailants fled only after security guards from the apartment complex and other residents intervened. “The broken glass pieces scraped my face in a few places. They tried to grab the chain I was wearing around my neck and also attempted to take my phone. They appeared to be drunk. I’ve heard from people living near my friend’s place that these men regularly caused such issues,” Ashok added.
In a similar incident, the outside rearview mirrors on Priyam Datta’s car were vandalised by miscreants while he was travelling from Whitefield to his home in Varthur with his wife and cousin on August 5. The 35-year-old IT professional noticed two men on bikes tailing his car as he drove along the Whitefield main road. Eventually, the riders overtook his car and positioned their bike in front of it. They began using abusive language towards Priyam and attempted to force him out of his car, but he didn’t budge.
The men grew increasingly agitated and resorted to banging on the driver’s window and door in an attempt to break it. One of the men even picked up stones and threatened to throw them. “We frantically tried to dial all emergency numbers but in vain. We managed to escape briefly but were once again intercepted by them. Fortunately, this time they stopped us in a more crowded area and some passersby came to our aid,” Priyam recounted.
Ashok and Priyam filed police complaints. Three of the men who attacked Ashok were arrested by the Varthur police on the same day as the incident. Priyam’s attackers were also arrested within a few hours of filing the FIR. Although Ashok’s attackers did not demand money during the incident, a senior police officer confirmed to TNM that their intention was to extort cash. The accused were all between 25-35 years and did not have previous history of similar crimes.
Dashcam videos of most such incidents have been posted on social media. Under such posts, numerous people have responded saying they too have been victims of such incidents over the past several years. “He followed me all the way to Trinity Church Rd, 1 MG Lido Mall Rd, Gangadhar Chetty Road continues abusing and threatening me that his friends are waiting at the next signal and they will thrash me and my car if I don’t pay. After some time he gave up and left, luckily I escaped (sic),” said one X user.
However, the Bengaluru police denied that there was a pattern to the crimes. “While there are many road rage incidents happening, those that are planned with the intention to extort money are very few. Between July and August, we have seen only one case of deliberate intention to extort. The rest were road rage cases. We make sure that those who are deliberately doing such acts are caught immediately and register them as rowdy sheeters so they are not able to repeat it again. There is no presence of a mafia gang in Bengaluru that has committed this crime twice because we arrest them after the first incident,” a senior police officer told TNM.