CHENNAI: Around 60 youngsters on 30 motorcycles stunned policemen on Thursday night by performing a flash bike stunt and racing just in front of the State police headquarters on Kamarajar Salai and RK Salai.
Even as police personnel on night duty were mobilised to nab them by placing barricades in a zig-zag manner, several of the bikers managed to escape by entering the side streets of Mylapore and Mandaveli quickly.
Police could manage to catch only three — all of whom turned out to be below 18 years.
This was the second such incident this week. On Tuesday night, youngsters on nearly 30 motorbikes were racing and performing stunts near the Chief Minister’s residence on Greenways Road. Only on Thursday, police traced six persons involved in Tuesday’s incident. But, again a bigger crowd of motorcyclists gathered near Marina beach on Thursday late night.
“We got information that around 100 youngsters have gathered and performing bike stunts dangerously on the road. They were headed towards the Light House. By the time we could reach, they had already started the race. As we passed on the info to a patrol team and as the personnel chased them, the group entered RK Salai,” said a police officer.
As the police started placing barricades near Stella Maris college and US consulate, the group vanished into the streets of Mylapore and Mandaveli. “We placed many barricades (in a zig-zag manner) to make them slow down and catch them. Only a few could be caught,” said the officer.
Three juveniles have been booked by Abhiramapuram police. A senior police officer told Express, “Bike racing and performing stunts are very dangerous as a simple miscalculation can be devastating both for the rider and others on the road. Most of the boys involved look like juveniles and no proper papers for the vehicles also.”
He said in connection with Tuesday’s incident, five adults, who owned the vehicles, and a juvenile were arrested. The adults arrested were identified as Mohammed Subbiyan (19) Salman (23) Kaleel Basha (20) Kareem (19) and Mujeeb Rahman (21). Most of the bikes caught seem to have been remodelled to suit racing. “It is dangerous to lives of all road users. Those who want to perform such stunts can do so in isolated places under proper safety measurements,” the officer said.