Stunt bikers in Jammu mock Police crackdown
Jammu City and its outskirts are witnessing a dangerous trend of over-speeding, stunt-biking, drifting, zigzag, and drag races despite a crackdown by J&K Police and Traffic Police.
To avoid being caught by Police, these bikers hide their registration number plates to avoid punitive action.
Meanwhile, their “motovlogs” (videos on social media accounts) receive thousands of hits.
These bikers are seen using helmet recording cameras to shoot during speedy rides while performing stunts in the busy congested roads of Kunjwani-Narwal-Sidhra, Jammu Old City, Canal Road, Talab Tillo Road, Tawi Bridges, flyovers, Bakshi Nagar, Pacca Danga, Surinsar-Mansar road, and all along the highway leading to Udhampur district.
Some even perform these stunts inside the tunnels on the highway ahead of Nagrota to Jhajjar Kotli.
As these stunt biker groups have grown in numbers, Police have taken strict action against them and booked some of the bikers and seized their costly sports bikes.
Police have kept checkpoints on the Srinagar-Jammu highway, Sidhra Bridge, Jammu Bypass, and within Jammu City to put a curb on the activities of stunt biker groups yet these youngsters can often be seen performing stunts and dodging Police.
On the Jammu Bypass, bikers can often be seen standing on the seat while youngsters witness their stunts like burnout, wheelie, and rolling stoppie.
They perform stunts dodging Police checkpoints even within Jammu City, make motovlogs (videos), and upload them on their social media accounts along with English, Punjabi, and Haryanvi songs to attract netizens.
Outside Wave Mall, Traffic Police had kept a checkpoint when a biker group escaped and the traffic cops looked on helplessly.
This trend of dangerous biking in Jammu could be seen when a biker’s video riding at over 250 km per hour speed at Sidhra, Jammu went viral.
In many cases, these stunts have often led to collisions.
A senior Traffic Police officer said that they had already recommended five FIRs against stunt bikers and seized around three sports bikes.
“We have set up checkpoints from Kunjwan, Narwal, and Nagrota areas to curb stunt biking. We recommended to the RTO to cancel the driving licences of these bikers,” he said. “We also recommended Police remove motovlogs promoting stunt biking on social media accounts. We also consulted the parents of young bikers.”
As Police tightened its grip on stunt biking, a few months back some stunt bikers voiced their concern over the curbs and asked the authorities not to ban bikers from performing stunts saying that they perform stunts in safer places.
A manager at a famous sports bike showroom said that they sold 25 sports bikes within a month and the sales were going up.
He said that college and school students were more passionate about sports bikes that cost over Rs 2.60 lakh.
