Chennai: Warnings did not work. So, now the city police have taken the more punishing route of arresting and remanding bike racers who have become a menace to other road-users and pedestrians.
In the latest case, the city police on Saturday night arrested six youths, two of them college students, for racing on their three modified bikes all for a paltry bet amount of Rs 750.
Around 9.30 pm on Saturday, when they were racing along DGS Dinakaran Salai and South Road junction, one of the bikers hit the two-wheeler of Natarajan, 30, a casual labourer from Kodungaiyur on way to Santhome high road, injuring him badly.
As the bikers continued to race undisturbed by the accident, the public contacted the police control room and admitted Natarajan to a local hospital.
A traffic constable, with the help of the public, caught the youths near Santhome church junction. According to a police note, M. Anoopkumar, 19, from Tiruvanmiyur, along with his friend Sasikumar, 20, a bike mechanic from Kotturpuram, had caused the accident.
The other racers were identified as Jayam, 19, of Tiruvanmiyur, Yogesh, 20, of Teynampet, Yashwanth Raja, 19, of Kotturpuram and Yogesh Kannan of Saidapet.
Anoopkumar is a second-year engineering student, and Yogesh is doing a media course in an autonomous college. The rest were class 12 dropouts and work as bike mechanics.
The Adyar traffic investigation wing registered a case and arrested the six youths under section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of IPC and remanded them in judicial custody.
According to a senior police official, they hope the arrest would act as a deterrent.
