The local residents have been absorbing the pain for quite some time, but they decided enough is enough and stood up for themselves by holding a protest march on December 27 in the markets of Kotkapura and by observing a complete Kotkapura bandh on December 28. They even brought the matter to the notice of Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Sandhwan, who is the MLA for Kotkapura assembly constituency.

Sensing the delicacy of the situation, the law and order issue was taken up by the Speaker with the state DGP (Gaurav Yadav) on December 27 who had assured the AAP MLA to bring things under control soon.

But the protest march, bandh and complaints had no effect on the miscreants, who on the contrary doubled down on their activities. They targeted the sewa kendra located on the premises of SDM Kotkapura’s office and stole computers, cameras and a few more valuables in the intervening night of December 28 and 29, that is, hours after the Kotkapura bandh. These miscreants are yet to be nabbed.

“Thefts, snatching incidents have been taking place for the past five months off and on in the town. Bike-borne youngsters have been reportedly snatching purses, chains, mobile phones from commuters when they are returning home in the evening after 7 in low-traffic areas. We have been raising the issue before the police (area police station) regularly but the incidents have not come down. We became worried when they (miscreants) started attacking the shopkeepers. In just a fortnight in December, several assault and robbery incidents took place, and we had no choice but to speak out against such criminal incidents,” said Omkar Goyal, president of Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kotkapura, while talking to The Indian Express.

Around mid-December, owner of Vishnu Provision store located on main Kotkapura-Faridkot road was attacked by a sharp-edged weapon around 7.30 pm when he was about to close his shop. Three youths wearing masks came on a two-wheeler. One kept on sitting on the bike, another attacked him, while the third person opened the cash box inside the shop and took away around Rs 30,000 from it. The shop owner (Kuldeep) suffered injuries to his forehead. In the third week of December, another kirana shopkeeper on Sikhwala Road also encountered almost a similar incident but he was bold enough to take the youths (miscreants) on. He picked up a rod and shouted at the youths who ran away immediately, said Omkar Goyal.

On December 25 around 8.30 pm, one Harinder Singh Ahuja, who runs a general store (‘Kake di Hatti’), was attacked by a few motorcyclist-borne miscreants when he was returning home on his bike in the Focal Point area. The miscreants robbed him of his mobile phone and cash (about Rs 30,000). In the attack, Ahuja suffered injuries to his eye and hands. “I was lucky that my brother was following me on his scooter who took me to the hospital immediately,” Ahuja told The Indian Express.

Omkar Goyal said that a teenage boy too was attacked by some bike-borne miscreants a fortnight ago. They physically assaulted the boy and snatched Rs 5,000 from him. In November, miscreants targeted a petrol pump in Kotkapura and decamped with Rs 1.6 lakh after attacking the staff manning the fuel station, he added.

According to Omkar Goyal , the modus operandi of these miscreants (age group 18-25) is – they come triple riding on a bike with their faces covered with mufflers or scarves. If they plan to target a shop, then one of the riders keep the bike on start mode, another gheraos the shopkeeper and if needed would attack him, while the third one takes away money from the cash box. On the road, especially in low-traffic areas, they catch their target unawares, snatch the valuables from them and disappear into thin air.

“About a month ago, many vegetable vendors too were looted on their way to the ‘sabji mandi’ early in the morning (between 4 and 5). These vendors normally have around Rs 10,000 on their person when they go to the mandi (large market). After a couple of such unpleasant incidents, vegetable vendors started going to the mandi in big groups as there’s safety in numbers,” Omkar Goyal told The Indian Express.

Naresh Sehgal, a Kotkapura resident, said, “Many a time the gates of the houses are not locked from inside. These miscreants come inside the verandah and take away the bicycle or scooter, if they can. Not many residents report to police. In my case, my car was parked outside the house and some unknown persons stole petrol from the tank. They also damaged the fuel tank. This incident took place late on December 30.”

Talking to The Indian Express, a police official requesting anonymity said, “Most of the miscreants are young and drug addicts. Many a time they are not even aware of what they are doing as they are under the influence of drugs.

At times they even snatch money from small roadside vendors and the crime is committed for as paltry a sum as 20 bucks.”