New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Sunday detained nearly 400 bikers overnight, allegedly for violating traffic rules. And in their efforts to deter them from breaking rules again, the police has decided to counsel them and their parents.
Police says most of these bikers were not wearing helmets and were riding rashly. They were stopped at police pickets at 1 am, where they had a verbal altercation with the cops. The incident happened near Krishna Menon Marg, not far from Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde’s residence.
Some of the bikers were detained from the pickets, others were chased down as the police rounded up the bikers over a period of five hours from different locations in the New Delhi district.
The bikers were mostly in the age group of 19 to 25 years. Around 250 bikes were also seized. But most of these bikes are not stunt bikes, they ranged from non-geared scooters to basic commuter bikes.
The police claimed they won’t be arresting the bikers, but will fine them for traffic violations.
23-year-old Gaurav Sharma and 21-year-old Nand Lal were one of the lucky few, who managed to get out of the police stations early morning, after paying up the fine.
“We were not stunt bikers. There were some boys who were attempting stunts near India Gate, which is why probably cops were catching them. I was going to the Chattarpur temple along with my friends, but they chased us down, beat us with sticks and took us to police stations,” said Gaurav.
Not just young boys, Delhi Police’s Sunday sermon was preached to parents as well. Parents of these boys were called to the police station for counseling by not just traffic police but also spiritual gurus.
Awdesh Kumar, one of the parents, whose son was held at the Tughlak road police station said, “I think such advise needs to go out to everyone. But they are unfairly targeting us. My son has been held up at the police station since 4 am. Isn’t this harassment?”
This is not the first time the Delhi Police has cracked down on bikers. But they had to face flak last year when a biker, Karan Pandey was shot dead by a police bullet. Police claimed that the bikers were pelting stones at them, had vandalized a PCR van, and shots had been fired at the tyres only to stop them. But it hit the deceased.
