Does extortion fall under this? As the following incident might belong to a different thread.
Time: 4:30 pm, yesterday.
Place: Ashoka Pillar, Jayanagar
Incident: I had parked my car at the side of the road near the Ashoka Pillar, facing RV Road. I had wished to take a U-urn and face Ashoka Pillar and go towards Double-Road. After looking both ways, I had decided to proceed with the U-turn. At that very moment, a black Suzuki Samurai ridden by possibly the biggest ding-bat known to mankind, went straight into my drivers door!
When I was taking the U-turn, I'd noticed that this idiot was a good 50 feet away and assumed that he would either stop, or, just like all other two-wheelers, go around me. But I was wrong! This guy decided to go straight into me and, honestly, it was at crawling speeds, so he didn't fall of the bike, and absolutely nothing happened to my car.
But this man decided to take it to another level. When I calmly tried to explain to him that I would park my car at the side of the road, he didn't budge and when I tried to move my car forward, he refused to back up so I could make the turn. He got off his bike, stuck his arm into my window that was 1/4th open, unlocked the door and tried to pull my keys out.
Despite repeated attempts, he refused to understand that we're holding up traffic in the middle of the road, and he did not allow me to park my car at the side of the road. In fact, he took his helmet and decided to swing at my car! And that move got me out of my car.
By this time, a crowd had gathered and they calmed the nutter down while I parked my car at the side of the road. At this point, he made such a scene in front of everyone, he spoke in Kannada and kept shouting that I tried to run him over! There were about twenty autorickshaw drivers who backed him, and I was outnumbered, big time.
At first, he claimed that his bike had been damaged, but on inspection, it was certain that there wasn't even a scratch. He made a couple of calls and kept shouting that his front fork had bent. At first, I told him that we will go to the nearest police station and sort out the issue there, but that didn't work with him. I even suggested that i would undertake the repairs, if any, at an authorized service station, but after some thinking, he decided to get violent.
There was no evidence of an accident at all. My door and the paint on it was intact, without a single scratch. His bike was perfectly alright. It was, remember,
at crawling speeds.
Because I wasn't ready to cough up any money, he ran across the road with his helmet in one hand and threatened to swing it onto my windshield. At this point, I had lost my cool and succumbed to the extortion.
The man began to physically harass me. He tried to stick his hand into my pocket and take my phone. He tried to snatch my wallet. And the sad part is, in the view of everyone, no one came forward to help. Everyone present there sided him, purely because he was a two wheeler involved in an incident with a four-wheeler.
10 minutes, and 450 rupees later, he disappeared.
All this happened so fast, it's all a blur to me now. Not for a second did it strike me that I should call the Police hot-line '100'.
Anyway,
The issue was taken to the Sidapura Police Station behind Nimhans, where a friend and his father had accompanied me to file a complaint. We got hold of the register number of the culprit and traced his residence to Maratahalli. I should get a call today from the police station, where he will be kept for interrogation, hopefully.
I really hope the police follow up with this, although, it's highly unlikely, since such cases are dime-a-dozen and will be brushed off like it's nothing.
If anyone comes across a
black and green Suzuki Samurai bearing the number
KA03 EB 9986, please report it to the nearest police station. Here is a picture of the same.
Apparently, according to the police, there have been several similar cases of spot extortion that had taken place within the vicinity and it'
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Now in hindsight, I should have let him swing at my car and I should have let him do whatever he pleases, as that would be more evidence against him. I should have stayed my ground. But in the spur of the moment, and in all the commotion and pressure from over two dozen auto fellows and bikers, I just gave in.
My Mistake:
- I did not stay put. I should have stood my ground, but I gave in to it.
- I should have called the cops immediately. Big mistake!
- They took my calmness and kindness for weakness. I'm going to carry a base-ball bat with me in my car from now on.
People, please learn from my mistakes. I don't want others to make the same mistakes I did. Do not panic, even if the other party gets violent. Let them do whatever they want to you or your car. At the end of the day, it's pure evidence, with with you could testify in court if need be.
This was one helluva experience for me. A real reality check. It literally woke me up and reminded me of how horrible, selfish and money-hungry people can be.