Cops to get bike racers to squeal on their friends

The city traffic police are about to put friendships forged by burning rubber on the road, in their bid to crack down on illegal bike racers in the city.

Night riders: Illegal bike racing is rampant on the Western and Eastern Express Highways after midnight. File pic

A biker caught racing on the roads, if caught by the police, will now be compelled to reveal his accomplices' names, so that the traffic officials can trace and nab them too.

Gangs of racers
The move comes after cops realised that these bikers race in groups of four or five while tearing through the streets and weaving between vehicles at breakneck speeds at night.

"We are now fishing out information on many other bikers who are involved in rash driving and illegal bike races. We are getting details about them from those bikers who are caught red-handed," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Pratap Dighavkar. These bikers will be booked under various sections of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), he added.

Police said their approach to coaxing information on networks of speeding bikers would be simple: After catching the bikers involved in illegal racing and rash driving, they would dig out the details of their friends and other racers known to them.

Traffic police claim these bikers, aged between 18-30 years, move in groups of 3-5.

The traffic police have begun expanding their operations on nabbing traffic violators, mainly two-wheelers, who, after midnight, ride at speeds touching up to 90 miles per hour on certain stretches, as they race for cash and street credibility.

Racing hubs
Traffic policemen claim that for the time being, they are targeting road stretches at Vakola, Kherwadi, Nirmal Nagar, Sion-Matunga, Worli Sea Face, Western and Eastern Express Highways, Bandra Bandstand and Reclamation areas.

These locations are the preferred hotspots of speed demons and have gained notoriety for late-night races, said cops. Traffic cops will also seize the motorbikes and licences of the bikers that are caught driving rashly or speeding. u00a0