Stuck in traffic in front of ITO metro station, Rajesh Kumar Mishra had a narrow escape from what seems to be a treacherous plot of thak- thak gang around 7 pm on Tuesday.
Kumar’s car was waiting at the red light, when two men on a bike knocked on the window to tell him that oil was leaking from his car.
In the meantime a boy aged 11- 12, suspiciously brushed past the bonnet of the car, after which Kumar suddenly started feeling suffocated. Confused, Kumar and his driver opened the windows and got out of the car to check the leakage. They realised that the boy had sprayed something into the ventilator of the car, which was causing suffocation. They caught hold of the boy immediately, after which he started crying loudly, claiming to be innocent. Police arrived on the spot and started interrogating the boy. A crowd gathered enquiring whether he was a part of a theft gang.
Police recovered a pepper spray bottle from the boy, which he had sprayed into the car ventilator, supposedly to divert the attention of Kumar and his driver and subsequently run away with his bag that was lying in the rear seat of the car.
Though the investigations regarding the incident are still going on, it is suspected that the two bikers and the boy were part of a thak- thak gang.
A thak-thak gang is a team of many thieves mainly targeting commuters, especially on red lights or at parking spaces. Some memebers of the gang function to confuse the commuter, while other members can commit the theft.