BENGALURU: For the last ten days, residents in Benson Town have been shivering to step out late at night, even to drop the garbage at the corner. Reason: Two miscreants on a scooter have been terrorising pedestrians threatening to hit at will with a hockey stick or use a long knife if mobile phones are not parted with. Following repeated complaints from the locals, the J C Nagar police nabbed one individual on Tuesday night with the help of CCTV footage.
Raman Sai (name changed) who works in an eatery was the latest victim. He had gone to attend nature’s call near a garbage spot on Church Road on May 3. Two people stopped a vehicle and alighted from it. Still quaking with fear, he told The New Indian Express, “One person had a long knife hidden from view behind. He brandished it and placed it on my stomach and asked me to hand over my phone. I screamed loudly. They shouted filthy words.”
Two staffers heard me and came running and stopped them. They left and we rushed toward the shop. “They came again and threatened all of us. A few people were at the shop but everyone was scared because of their knife. They promised to return,” Raman added.
In another incident that took place around midnight a week ago on the 4th Main Road in Chinnappa Garden, the duo hit a youngster hard on his knee using a hockey stick making him collapse for refusing to hand over his phone.
The duo then continued along the road and threatened a woman.”It was terrifying. The vehicle stopped ahead of me while I was walking. One of them approached me with a hockey stick which had a sharp knife at the edge. He gestured for the phone. On an impulse, I ran. They chased me on the scooter, hit my shoulder with the sharp end of the stick and fled,” she said.
A top cop said they reviewed CCTV footage and caught one of the boys. “He is a habitual offender. We are interrogating him to catch his companion.”