Is Bengaluru Becoming Unsafe After Dark? Scary Incidents On NICE Road, Sarjapur Raise Safety Concerns

Two incidents of attempts at car thefts have come to light in Bengaluru. The alleged victims have shared the details of the incidents on a social media site, thereby highlighting the growing safety concerns when travelling in remote areas at night in Bengaluru.

Attempted Theft On NICE Road
A user named Aashish Bansal has opened up on an incident that occurred to him in the early hours of Tuesday between Bannerghatta Road and Hosur Road on NICE road.

Aashish Bansal, sharing the account of his ordeal while travelling in a friend's car, mentioned that unidentified miscreants allegedly threw a cement block at the vehicle to stop it with the intention of robbery.

Warning people to be careful during their night journies, he said, "Be very careful and pray when you're driving out on NICE Road after dark. A friend was dropping us back home when a cement block, roughly 6"x3"x3" cement block was thrown at the car from one of the connecting bridges over the NICE Road between Bannerghatta Road and Hosur Road at about 2:30am this morning.

We did not stop the car as the usual MO in such cases is to rob the occupants of the vehicle the moment they stop to take a view of what has happened. I also noticed a cement block on the road fraction of a second before we were hit - it points to the same MO being applied to some other vehicle before we were targeted."

He then said, "The car was doing 70-80kph and the impact was dulled by the wiper blades. If the viper blades had not taken the impact directly, the block would have hit me sitting in the front passenger seat easily - the windshield had a gaping hole towards the bottom.

I have traversed this road numerous times since it became functional and had never faced this threat ever. It seem that the times are changing. The ever-present Hoysala cars along the Begur-Koppa Road are seen very few times."

He also requested the Bengaluru City Police to have better surveillance along these unlit bridges that overlook this highway. The city police has taken note of the incident and investigating the matter.

Similarly, another user named Srijan R Shetty has opened up on a scary incident that occurred on November 8. Sharing his ordeal, he said, "I've never felt unsafe in Bangalore - I know my privilege of being a Kannada speaking male - but last Thursday night I felt how unsafe certain parts of the city are post 10pm.

I've seen those horrific videos of fake accidents in Sarjapur where hooligans have tried to blackmail people in the car.On 8th November, my wife offered to drop off some other collegues (2 females, one male) considering it was hard to get a cab from Sarjapur. Their car was chased down by a bunch of men for a few km - she was smart enough to stop only on the main road and inform the cops as soon as possible."

He has also shared of the people who had chased his wife and damaged her car.

"The men demanded that they step out of the car - which she didn't - for alleged damage during the chase. A few tempo drivers hit her car from the backside and joined the man in the green shirt in trying to pressurise people who couldn't speak Kannada. None of the bystanders helped the three women and a guy in the car.

If it wouldn't have been for her wits of calling the cops and then calling us and 10 of her friends to immediately join her at her location, the incident could have taken a different turn.

This city deserves better than this, we need security and we need it now. Sarjapur has been a hotspot for these incidents and we need to figure out a solution to curb this menace," he said.

In his subsequent post, Shetty said that he had not filed a formal complaint yet.