[Dippy]

Similar incidents in Mumbai too as vasoo mentioned. Funny thing is here it happens on the long highway roads connecting the suburbs to the central town area. These highways are usually jammed with bumper to bumper traffic in the evening. Its part of my everyday commute. These guys stand on the dividers to get a full view of what they can spot in your car or on the dashboard. If they see something they can flick, they'll jump off the divider and like vasoo said, you'll here a thud and then the guy will act as you hurt him. Roll down your window or open the door and youre sure to be mugged.

A guy tried it with me once. I was too smart for him. Knew their modus operandi since a long time. My cousin sister was not so lucky though. She opened the window to talk to the so called injured guy guy while other fellow flicked her cell phone from the other side.

[jinojohnt]

Around 8 years back I had a similar experience in Trivandrum. When I was waiting at a traffic block, a guy crossed the road from behind my car and (intentionally) hit the left back door. I could hear him shout as if crying in pain. Sensing something wrong, I took off immediately (as the traffic had cleared by then).

I narrated this incident to my colleague when I reached office. It seems he also had a similar experience half an hour before. The guy (probably the same guy) hit his left back door when the car was waiting in line, and asked him to take him to hospital. My friend asked him to walk to hospital as it is not his responsibility to teach anyone to cross the road properly. The guy tried to open the back door lock by putting his hand through the front window, but my friend's wife fought him with an umbrella and they drove off.

I read the following news in the next day's paper: This guy tried the same trick with another car driven by a Medical College Surgeon. The surgeon started shouting and people gathered. This guy got nicely beaten up by the mob it seems.

[hvkumar]

Something similar to what Gilead mentions happens in Bombay. When you are coming down the road,some guys point ot the bottom of the car and usher you to stop frantically. IF you do, they tell you that there are sparks coming from underneath the car. Within seconds, a mechanic turns up and says something is wrong with your alternator, etc, replaces it and swindles you.

[Iluvcars]

I beg to differ on:

Originally Posted by mjothi

As long as we have this HUGE gap between the poor & rich, it will never stop.

These will for sure stop, if we have
1) a far less corrupt law enforcement (I didn't mean corrupt-free)
2) a swift judiciary and legal procedures and finally
3) deterrent punishments.

[vinaydas]

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

Slightly OT:

I was in Bangalore months ago for the big bangalore jeep thrills OTR. I landed in the morning (5am) and was told to walk up outisde the airport and meet under the bridge.

The exact words used were: "Take a bus and get dropped outside the building. then walk a couple of kilometers in the opposite direction and if you don't get mugged on the way, we will see you under the bridge!"

A few bikers did slow down on seeing a lone guy with a haversack walking down the road in the dark early morning, but i guess they must have thought that i was a crazy bugger to do so and left me alone... lol

Not really the person was joking with you.
Bangalore On an average is one of the safest cities in India Compared to Bombay and Delhi.
in no other city you see women walking around after 10.
I can see women going for morning walks as early as 4:30, this mugging and other bad activities happen in very very isolated places and its rather rare.

[prguru]

An other incident happened to my neighbour which is similar to what vasoo has described. He works in HP Electronics City and was coming home to Nagarabhavi and he usually comes from BTM-DVG Petrol Bunk-Nayandahalli-Bangalore University and Nagarabhavi as traffic is not heavy in this route. It was around 11:30 at night and he took a left in Nayandahalli and was going towards University and was doing around 30 or 40Kms it seems and suddenly out of no where a hefty guy jumped on his car from the right side and fell on the road pretending to be seriously injured. He stopped his car a little further and he said he saw in the RVM a few people hiding behind a sumo towards the left side waiting to assault him. Sensing danger he took off from there and he also said his windshield was cracked due to the impact. These guys will be heavily drunk and they don't mind minor injuries I think.

Almost similar thing happened to me too, I also stay in Nagarabhavi and one day I was going to a friend's place which is in Kengeri and I was at Shirke nearing the curve which goes to the right and it was around 9:30 pm and the divider to the right is a little high may be around 3 feet or so and it is usually dark there. There was some 2 or 3 feet gap between my car and the right divider and suddenly someone jumped from the right but din't hit the car and he pretended as if he was injured and sat on the road. I looked in the RVM but could not see his face nor guess his age as it was really dark and I din't bother to stop.
Trust me guys there was absolutely no time to react at all. They choose a place which is isolated and the time when no vehicles are behind you and when you are driving alone.
My advice : When you are driving (specially at night ) and in an isolated area please leave some gap between your car and the right side divider (atleast 3 feet).

[phro]

Thanks for the Heads up man . It is very scary actually . I f i were in your place i would have stoppped to see what happened . And i used to think that cars are safer then bikes in these terms :|.
Looks highly otherwise.
Also For Bangaloreans , Stay off the Small lanes (All round Infant jesus Church near NGV) complex after 11ish.Try taking the main road even if it is longer.I know one Couple who were stopped and all belongings(cash, gold ) was stolen there.(The dacoits were armed according to the uncle)

[ampere]

Night times, one can understand, but broad daylight, is a serious issue.
Best is to drive to a police station nearby if possible.

[bornin70s]

Vasoo, was the registration number noted down?

These guys can be pretty crazy. Mostly these types of robberies happen in and around offices near Sarjapur, ITPL, EPIP etc. Best thing is to be aware of your surroundings at all times.

[heavy_foot]

Originally Posted by vinaydas

in no other city you see women walking around after 10.
I can see women going for morning walks as early as 4:30, this mugging and other bad activities happen in very very isolated places and its rather rare.

huh? i see ladies talking at walk even at 12 in the night here in Navi Mumbai. Please check your facts.

[gupta_chd]

Originally Posted by vinaydas

Not really the person was joking with you.
Bangalore On an average is one of the safest cities in India Compared to Bombay and Delhi.
in no other city you see women walking around after 10.
I can see women going for morning walks as early as 4:30, this mugging and other bad activities happen in very very isolated places and its rather rare.

I beg to differ here. I have heard so much mugging stories at prominent places being in Bangalore for 7-8 months, I think these are just perceptions, Delhi and Mumbai being unsafe as compared to Bangalore.

[prateekm]

Similar thing was narrated by my friends dad. He was travelling from Mumbai to their site and were on some national highway. My friend's dad was travelling in his Octavia and suddenly the same thing happened. A guy jumped from the divider and bumped slightly on the boot. He thought that the person wasn't injured and continued on the trip. After some time, the same guy came on a Yezdi and stopped him. When he was arguing, a second guy came from nowhere and tried to take his laptop.

Too bad for them. The site workers were travelling in a Safari which was just behind the Octi. There were about 7-8 workers and all were pretty well built. Those thieves were bashed up pretty bad, one landed straight in the ICU

[vinaydas]

Originally Posted by heavy_foot

huh? i see ladies talking at walk even at 12 in the night here in Navi Mumbai. Please check your facts.

certain groups of ladies(??) do walk around here also after 12.
But
in general(considering the rape cases registered across various cities in India)
Bangalore is/was rather safe. But things are changing for the worse now.

There are places in the North where are robbed at gun point.
Here armed robbery is Rather rare.

[rajeev k]

This brings memories of an incident I came across in 2003. I was proceeding to Mavelikara from Kottayam after picking up my wife from her hostel on hearing that my father-in-law is admitted in hospital. I had reached Cochin that day evening from Hyderabad and started from Kottayam at 1030pm. Had some coffee and snacks from the outskirts of kottayam and between Tiruvalla and Mavelikkara at around midnight and minutes after a 407 zoomed past me, after a turning saw four persons, lungi clad, blocking the road leaving no way to dodge past. I was at around 45kph as the roads were bouncy. I slowed the car as if to stop which made two of them move over to the left when I foxed them by shifting down and accelerating. These guys banged car side and rear glasses but thank god nothing happened.

This idea of hoodwinking by pretending to stop and accelerate cropped up at that moment because real good 15 years before I did this for fun to escape from a gang who was collecting money for their club on an Onam day at a place called Piravom in ernakulam district.

[Ranjan Sharma]

Originally Posted by Gilead

Never keep a laptop in full view on the seats. Hide it in the boot or under the seats.

I know, I always keep a weapon on my passenger's seat. It looks like a dagger, long though. Have had instances where people seeing it run away

Originally Posted by vinaydas

Not really the person was joking with you.
Bangalore On an average is one of the safest cities in India Compared to Bombay and Delhi.
in no other city you see women walking around after 10.

Are you kidding me? Where in Bangalore you see women walking alone after 10?

And probably you haven't been to Mumbai. Forget 10, you will see girls wearing shorts and minis having paaw bhaji behind Taj at 2am at night.

Whoever says Bangalore is the safest, thing again. My friend was stabbed by some morons just for a mobile (Nokia 3310). This happened 6 years ago when we were in college. If you know, Bangalore is famous for these cellphone robbers.