Hitch-hike a cab at night in Bangalore only at your peril

Picture this: It’s past 10pm and a person is waiting for a suitable public transportation to reach home. With little public transport available at that hour, he has to wait longer.

Just then a car, with occupants already inside, reaches the spot. The person waiting is offered a ride for Rs10. There is hardly any room for suspicion. The car goes a distance and soon the person is threatened at knifepoint. Soon, he’s relieved of his valuables and pushed out of the car.

Going by the records, cases like this are not isolated in Bangalore. Police say that such cases have increased in the past few months.

About 175 cases of robbery, in various forms, have been reported during the night from January to May this year, the police say.

Robbers posing as cabbies are taking advantage of the fact that there is not much public transportation in the night and people are in a hurry to reach home.

“I prefer to go in the cab as autorickshaws charge more than double the meter amount after 9.30pm. These cabs charge `10-15 and we can reach home in a short time,” says Ashok, a garment factory worker, who travels in the night.

Cases of robbery involving cab drivers mostly happen in KR Puram, Ramamurthy Nagar, Hennur, and Outer Ring Road of the city. Victims are mostly employees of IT and BPO companies. Police have recently arrested gangs that specialise in this kind of robberies in Jayanagar and Jnanabharathi. About four gangs operate in the city posing as cab drivers and rob people, says joint commissioner of police (crime) Alok Kumar.

After robbing people, the culprits flee the state, he says.

“They work with private travel agencies and are involved in such criminal activities at the same time. We have issued guidelines to the travel agencies to be alert while recruiting people,” says Kumar.

A cab driver speaking on condition of anonymity says, “Police generally do not check the yellow board cabs at night as they are on assignment for companies. Due to lack of adequate checking, miscreants rob the passengers in the name of giving them a ride.”

Kumar, however, says it is not easy to check each and every cab.

“There are more than 15,000 cabs plying in the night. Checking every car will also lead to unnecessary trouble to the travellers,” Kumar says, adding that the police thoroughly check and videograph vehicles crossing the city limits at nights.

Earlier this week, Kumar called an emergency meeting with the deputy commissioners of police and ACPs of different zones and sought details of the cases solved. 

“With the increase in incidents of robbery in the city over the past couple of months, all vehicles going outside the city limits will be thoroughly checked. This will be implemented with immediate effect,” Kumar ordered at the meeting.