[ampere]

The other thing even while driving with windows locked would be, not to keep things on the seats and which are clearly visible to others. Things like laptops/bags can always be kept in the boot, from where its not visible.

[Ketan]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Cross posting from another thread


It happened with me twice, first at Bommanahalli signal and second time at Silk Board signal.
Trick is they walk so close to the car and shout in pain as if the car ran over their foot and hit the car, and same person or the second person try to open the door.
I always keep my doors locked and windows rolled up (or open driver side window open max 10-20%)

Friends, be careful.

I agree, we need to keep looking around for such and ensure our safety by keeping the doors/windows locked. This has become common in Bangalore now a days, motivating more of them.
For extreme situations, I'd suggest using app like below that can be used to contact emergency contacts.
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-gb/st...0-e2945fa18d6b

They benefit from the surprises we get, otherwise, I guess they are just same as us, with a vigilant eye and better instinct of drivers/travellers, I have doubt they will succeed.

[ashwin.terminat]

Digging up a very old post, but one that needs highlighting with immediate effect.

Cross posting from the Bengaluru Traffic Police FB page.

It happened yesterday near Jayadeva Circle. I was heading in an Auto towards BTM, while passing the under bridge it felt like someone was behind the back seat of the auto. Light from oncoming vehicles made a metallic kind of flash behind me which made me sure that someone is ducking in the rear space behind the seat and he is holding something in his hand. I tried my best not to make any quick movements so that I can come up with something to help me escape. At the left turn opposite to Gopalan Mall traffic was moving slow because of rush hour and heavy rain. I took the opportunity to jump out of the auto and hit a car coming from behind as he wouldn't be suspecting me to. This made people go Honking and grabbed enough attention to the scene. The car was at a minimal speed so I was not hurt. There was a Traffic Police Officer over there who came running as well. I pointed towards the auto which was still stuck in traffic. The policeman took the auto driver out and when I told him he checked behind the back seat and there was a boy holding a knife in his hand. I was startled with fear. He started hitting both of them and then another policeman over there took me to a different auto, checked it first and then asked me to go in it. I was scared and said I'll walk but he convinced me that I was safe. I then came home.
I am still amazed and scared at the same time. I did not get a chance to thank them at the very moment. So, here is a Big THANK YOU! Bengaluru Traffic Police
Date of incident: 20th July, 2015
Time: 08:00 PM
Location: Jayadeva Circle

PS: This did not happen to me.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

Digging up a very old post, but one that needs highlighting with immediate effect.

Cross posting from the Bengaluru Traffic Police FB page.



PS: This did not happen to me.

I read this one and was a little surprised. Firstly where could that person hide in such a small place behind the seat? It is easily noticeable if one was hiding behind the seat since we ll almost be in contact with each other.

Secondly why wasn't the person taken to the police station and at least a complaint filed if there was really a person and with a knife?

These aren't questions to Ashwin but a general doubt

[Turbo_Torq]

Originally Posted by audioholic

I read this one and was a little surprised. Firstly where could that person hide in such a small place behind the seat? It is easily noticeable if one was hiding behind the seat since we ll almost be in contact with each other.

I don't intend to contest you on your doubt but hiding behind the seat in an autorickshaw is indeed possible. There is often some space behind the seat meant for luggage and is separated from the engine bay at the rear by some sheet metal.

The OP did mention that it was a boy hiding there; this is quite possible and more so when they have modified, tall seats. How I know this? Experience, of course!

[condor]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Firstly where could that person hide in such a small place behind the seat?

Secondly why wasn't the person taken to the police station and at least a complaint filed if there was really a person and with a knife?

1) If the space behind was modified to accomodate a boy, then it would indicate involvement of the auto driver also.

2) The OP of the incident mentioned that they arranged for an auto and he went home. That looks to have happened immediately after the cops came. No narration of him being there till the end.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by condor

2) The OP of the incident mentioned that they arranged for an auto and he went home. That looks to have happened immediately after the cops came. No narration of him being there till the end.

To clarify, the OP is she (info from FB). But still didn't get purpose of a kid hiding with a knife. I mean what would have happened if the OP had not jumped from running auto.

[jeeva]

Guess, its the normal Bajaj Auto-rickshaw. A boy can easily hide behind the seat, if its one of those modified bucket-like seat.
OT, but recently, the excise department in our place in Wayanad, caught a group of people involved in smuggling chicken from TN to Kerala, hidden behind the seat of the Piaggio Ape passenger auto-rickshaw. That thing's got much more space than a Tata Indica behind the seat.

[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Firstly where could that person hide in such a small place behind the seat?

There is enough space for a little boy to lie there. In my 23 years, I have never looked at the back of an auto for anything. And autos usually never have any interior lighting. So quite possible for a little boy to hide there without being too conspicuous.

Originally Posted by audioholic

Secondly why wasn't the person taken to the police station and at least a complaint filed if there was really a person and with a knife?

These aren't questions to Ashwin but a general doubt

The lady who posted this on FB did not mention what happened to the culprits. Perhaps the cops who were at the scene decided to act against them? The lady was made to get into another auto and was sent home. Honestly, the most sensible thing to do to a person who just experienced the fright of her life.

Originally Posted by msdivy

But still didn't get purpose of a kid hiding with a knife.

Quite easy for the driver to say that he knows a shortcut, take you through a dark alley. Immediately, you'd have a knife at your throat asking you to part with your valuables. You won't know it's a small boy until after you part with your belongings and then look back when you're getting off the auto.

[linuxmanju]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

Quite easy for the driver to say that he knows a shortcut, take you through a dark alley. Immediately, you'd have a knife at your throat asking you to part with your valuables. You won't know it's a small boy until after you part with your belongings and then look back when you're getting off the auto.

Shocking, but if that was the intention, what stops driver from keeping a knife in his pocket and do the trick?. Why does he need to hide a boy risking everything ?.

[Horizon81]

Originally Posted by linuxmanju

Why does he need to hide a boy risking everything ?.

The boy can keep the victim from screaming or attracting attention from outside while the driver can take her to wherever he wants to?

Autos and drivers can be later identified, that makes the victim a potential risk for the criminals themselves. Given that a healthy percentage of auto drivers in the city are goons doing their day-job, I don't want to think what could have been the possibilities if the lady did not jump out.

[ani_meher]

Originally Posted by msdivy

...But still didn't get purpose of a kid hiding with a knife. I mean what would have happened if the OP had not jumped from running auto.

Yeah, the kid might have helped her in cutting vegetables on the way back, or could be just fallen asleep because of playing with knife all morning.


Were you serious in your post? If a person is hiding from me in a narrow place holding a knife, I will assume worst outcome and act accordingly. He is no longer a reasonable human being, he is a savage animal and needs to be treated such.

Originally Posted by linuxmanju

....what stops driver from keeping a knife in his pocket and do the trick?. Why does he need to hide a boy risking everything ?.

Hope the driver posts on facebook soon clearing his side

I really wonder how can anyone question the evident danger in the situation. If the policemen weren't there in the story, I am sure someone would have even claimed that the lady imagined all those things, and posted such fantasy for getting facebook likes.

[linuxmanju]

Originally Posted by ani_meher

Yeah, the kid might have helped her in cutting vegetables on the way back, or could be just fallen asleep because of playing with knife all morning.


Were you serious in your post? If a person is hiding from me in a narrow place holding a knife, I will assume worst outcome and act accordingly. He is no longer a reasonable human being, he is a savage animal and needs to be treated such.



Hope the driver posts on facebook soon clearing his side

I really wonder how can anyone question the evident danger in the situation. If the policemen weren't there in the story, I am sure someone would have even claimed that the lady imagined all those things, and posted such fantasy for getting facebook likes.

Whoaa, cool down. I am not the one who was hiding with a knife man .

I don't think you understood the question properly. Nobody is questioning the situation the lady was in. The question was to understand the modus operandi.

[Added_flavor]

Well not exactly mugging, but something even more disturbing.

https://in.news.yahoo.com/beware--th...062252977.html

At around 2:00 pm on December 11, I was driving towards Marathahalli (in Bengaluru), under the KR Puram Bridge next to the railway station.

The traffic was very slow. While waiting there for the vehicles to move, I heard the driver of a red Maruti Swift car on my left shouting and making some obscene hand gestures.

I chose to ignore and moved ahead with the vehicles on to the flyover that connects to the Outer Ring Road.

While on the flyover, I saw the car tailing me. I still did not think much of it, thinking it could be heading in the same direction as I.

However, giving into my keep safe instincts, I decided to avoid being close to the car at the next signal.

Due to the heavy traffic, there was not much place to manoeuvred my car around and I ended up right in the middle of the road. As soon as my car stopped at the signal, many men jumped out of the Swift, which was right behind me, and surrounded my car.
They started banging on the car; one guy was clicking my pictures while others hit the car, the car windows, the front windshield, rearview mirror, etc. They kept shouting and abusing in Kannada and demanded that I get out of the car. I just gestured them to move away.
I was surrounded by many vehicles with people in them and yet not one soul dared to question those men, on what they were doing and why they were harassing a lone woman.

Next, I saw two of the men bending down to deflate the front tyres. That's when I started screaming inside the car and asked them to get away. To stop them from acting on their threat, I started to move the vehicle. By this time the signal turned green and I could drive ahead.

I was scared. As soon as I crossed that signal, I called my friend who was the last-dialled number on my phone, to tell her what had happened.
She asked my location and told me that she would get help. I kept watching if I was being followed, but in that bumper-to-bumper traffic I could not make out much. I was very stressed too.

By the time I reached the next signal, these guys, some 6-7 of them, were already there, waiting for me on the divider. The moment my vehicle stopped at the red signal, they came back to hound me.

By this time I panicked and broke down in tears. At that time my friend called and she could hear these guys pounding my car. I pleaded for help, but people around me kept watching silently, as these men kept on harassing me.

The apathetic reaction of the onlookers towards the whole situation scared me even more. And the goons, well, they seem to have absolutely no fear that they will get caught. They kept clicking my pictures, kept banging the car, trying to break the glass, etc.

At that moment, my only safety was my car. The goons pursued me to the next signal as well, before I finally managed to lose them close to Marathahalli.

Meanwhile, my friend called the police and they reached out to me asking me to come to the nearest police station. On my way to the police station, I was then asked by the police to stop wherever I was, and was met by two policemen who had reached out to me over the phone first.
They checked my vehicle to see if it was a case of road rage, if I had hit the other vehicle, but then they ruled it out as there was no evidence to that effect.

I wanted to file a complaint, but they said since, I could not see or note the vehicle number ( as at no point the vehicle was in front of me) or had clicked the pictures of the attackers, there was nothing much they could do to help.
I bought their argument and allowed them to escort me home. It was only later, after talking to some of my media friends, did I come to know that this was not an isolated incident or a random act of hooliganism.

According to them, this was an attempt at kidnapping/abduction as the modus operandi used by those who attacked me was similar to the one used in other incidents as well where victims are accused of damaging some vehicle and harassed to get out and negotiate or pay up.

Once the victim steps out of the vehicle, the gang members get into the car and take control; abduct the victim (beat them up in many cases) and then demand ransom from the family members or take them to an ATM and force them to withdraw a good sum of money.

In fact, in the recent past, similar incidents have been reported at the same stretch of road, between KR Puram and Marathahalli. On the night of October 4, a software professional was waylaid, assaulted, abused, kidnapped and robbed of Rs 25,000 by a gang of cab drivers.

According to news reports, yet another IT Professional was also waylaid in a similar manner in September 2015. Going by the reports, the general profile of victims so far has been, usually men, belonging to upper middle class, driving decently high end cars and are lone drivers.

While sharing my experience with friends and neighbours, I realized, that everyone I spoke to know one or two people who have been in a similar situation in and around that area. I was attacked on, in broad daylight, on a busy road, in the middle of heavy traffic.

How can these goons be so brazen? They have absolutely no fear of the law and have the audacity to go about attempting such crimes even in broad daylight. Somehow things just don’t add up.

What is surprising is that, despite the rise in the number of such crimes, nothing seems to have been done by the administration to stop the same.
The IT corridor on Outer Ring Road, ITPL and Whitefield has become a godforsaken land even though it is where the heart of the Silicon City work, reside and pay their taxes, living in deplorable conditions. This stretch has nearly 1,400 companies and nearly 5-6 lakh people move in and out of this area everyday.

How many more will need to be victimized before it becomes an area of concern for the authorities is a question that needs to be asked.
The corporate sector and business leaders also seem to be bothered only about infrastructure issues as it is linked to productivity and revenues. Somehow the safety of their workforce outside the company premises does not figure in their list of demands.

The reaction of the general public is also a cause for concern. One does not expect another to fight their battles but with each of us lies a civic responsibility of helping another, if the need arises, possibly without jeopardising self.

I am told, I survived because I refused to get out of the car, despite the instigation. I’ve been in Bengaluru for over a decade and I am yet to see a day like this.

I love my city and there is no other place that I would call home. It pains to see how the city is crumbling on various fronts.

* The woman's name has been kept hidden upon her request.

[tharian]

^^^
Very sad and dangerous incident which could occur to anyone.

Makes it even more important to have a dashcam installed.
I am sure dashcam is something which few people know about and will probably will never be made mandatory in our country.

A friend until few months back hadn't even heard of the term dashcam until I explained to him and now he has one in his car recording away.

With the Christmas and New Years around the corner, dashcam makes a good gift for loved ones.