[dg2332]

I heard people doing these kind of things on the way to Aruku valley by our driver because they don't want people to visit the valley and spoil their livelihood. Not sure if it holds true today as this conversation was some 5 years back.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by sansvk

It would be useful if your friend can mention a more accurate location on the highway or the closest toll booth. The message can be posted on TN police FB page.

I will check with him. I have tagged TN police on FB already.

[Reinhard]

A scary incident. Glad that everyone escaped safe & the impact didn't cause any dangerous damage to make them stop on road. A very wise decision to carry on.

I have had a similar experience multiple times in MH. 4 times already between Umbraj and Patan on the way to Chiplun-Ganpatipule. The road is frequented by people from cities like Pune-Mumbai when traveling to tourist/religious places in Kokan. Young villagers sitting chit-chatting idly besides the road throw objects on cars. I have received a large amount of soil/muck even on windshield a couple of times. It tends to be just for fun sadly. I have understood that it tends to be rooted from a frustration they have about "outsiders" causing a lot of traffic on what are perceived to be "their" internal roads in villages. In these cases that I mention, the intent is not to rob, but to make fun or trouble outsiders sadly.

Either way - the best thing is always to keep moving safely.

[swiftnfurious]

Thats a sad chapter and am happy your friend did the right thing. I saw a video sometime back and seemingly at Salem where one guy leaves a big stone in the middle of the road in the night. The video shows a truck stopping by and the helper getting down to remove the stone but the guy doesnt allow him and sends him away. After couple of mins, a bike comes and hits the stone and falls down. The guy waiting for such an accident loots the money and goes away leaving the biker to die or so. I have always thought what a low life - some money is more important than a life !

[Guna]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

The video shows a truck stopping by and the helper getting down to remove the stone but the guy doesnt allow him and sends him away.

Wonder why the truck guy did not complain to police.

[su1978]

Originally Posted by sayyam.gaur58

It's good that you're safe first of all. I've experienced the same incident between a small route of deoband, near saharanpur. Someone threw eggs on the windshield and they expected the driver to turn on the wipers, but the wipers actually makes the windshield completely white which makes the car difficult to drive and ultimately stops. Obviously their agenda was of loot.
When it happened with me, it kept on driving and stopped the car at the police station and then I got to know the whole story!
Be safe guys!

Anybody staying in north knows that deoband is one of the worst criminal belt and it also houses many anti social elements with their links to the worst enemy that India has. Another place in north india where this will happen with the drivers is Taj expressway. The anti social elements residing near Jewar(place where an airport is proposed) throw something on your car during night and expect the drivers to stop. There have been many instances of robbery and murder on this stretch. The management of Taj expressway has specifically mentioned this at many places all along the route.

I also encountered one such incidence while travelling back from Bharatpur bird sanctuary with my Wife, Daughter and sister. Around Nuh(another criminal belt-the gangs are called Mewati Dacoits), someone threw a Stone at my car but since my speed was high, instead of the stone hitting my windscreen, it hit my door visor and the B-pillar. The visor was completely shattered. I continued driving and went upto the next police patrolling vehicle and complained to them. The policemen told me that this was reported to them by many other drivers as well and promised action.

Although i do not support voilence, but the only way out seems to be that one should carry a gun for protection. The reason i speak so is the fact that god forbid but if anyone gets caught by these antisocial elements, he is sure to feel the impact in long run in more ways than one. Hence, as they say in Indian Navy-Hit First, Hit Hard and keep hitting should be followed. The other necessity is dashcam to prove your innocence.

[uditsharma01]

Originally Posted by Guna

Good to know that this has been already under the police radar but it is amusing that they have not cracked down on the actual culprits rather alerting travelers.

Police network is so strong that most of the times they know who are the actual culprits. Sometimes they are just too reluctant to act upon or just become the part of the nexus.

[TorqueKnight]

Originally Posted by Guna

I am sharing the experience of one of my friend (taken from FB).

I am Sorry for what happened to your friend. Could you please let me know the exact location of the incident? Because my home town is Perundurai, which is in the same stretch. If your friend started around 12.30 PM from Bengaluru then definitely his car was traveling near my home town (+ or - 40 KMS) only. We can alert the Highway Patrol, and find the truth

[vibbs]

Holy!

I have driven on this route more than a couple of times. Gives me chills to think this kind of an incident happened. I generally consider South India safer than average in India.

That said, these incidents are also being reported elsewhere.
Few months back my colleague informed me of a similar incident in Mumbai - Pune Expressway (another road, I have driven on innumerable times and consider to be generally safe). Exact location was I think after the Sinhagad college on the way to Pune.
He felt something hit his car in the front. It was not even dark. He stopped and checked to see that it had damaged the front Bumper. Damage was pretty substantial. There were a couple of other cars stopped at the same location for this very reason. They even saw a guy around 100 odd meters back throwing another stone at an Innova which hit its Windshield. He then ran away when he saw these few people coming for him.
Didn't seem like robbery was the intention behind this act but rather some kind of Sadistic pleasure.
My colleague and the others affected however did file a complaint with the Police at the Toll Gate.

Not sure if anything came out of that.

[discoverwild]

I have been driving this route for ages and it has never been an issue. I have travelled with family/alone/odd hours for over 25 years.

Unless there's a repeat of such incidents, I would generally put it down to drunken madness. The TN Government depends on its revenue through the sale of liquor, probably the highest in the country. TASMAC is found in every nook and corner, so are the number of drunks out on the roads.

If your friend had come to a sudden stop, it's possible that the bikers were only trying to help.

[gadadhar]

Sounds scary, that too happening in a busy stretch at 5 pm. I have heard about stray incidents on this stretch during night, but never thought something like this can happen during the day