If you find nails sprayed on flyover, main roads and cross roads across HSR Layout and on Outer Ring Road, know this. The nail mafia is alive and well. And they are targetting bikers and old car owners who don’t have tubeless tyres. They want your vehicles to get punctured, so you make use of their puncture shops sprinkled across HSR.
Not that the HSR Layout cops did nothing about it. Three years ago, they did arrest one person for this crime, but there are many, old and new, who are indulging in this horrid act and inconveniencing motorists even today. In fact, there is little improvement on ground. For more details on the history of the nail mafia, click here.
Today, the nails are not just confined to the main thoroughfares, but also the cross roads of HSR Layout. One elder gentleman who frequents 15th B Main in Sector 3 told us that he regularly picks up cobbler’s screws (these can immediately puncture your tyres) on his regular walks. God bless such noble souls. And then there was techie B Jebakumar who used a magnetic broom for years to clean up the roads of these nails until he had to leave the city due to a job transfer.
Says Teacher’s Colony resident Hema Latha: “Technically, catching hold of these guys did’t work for some reason and now, we can see more puncture shops on service road.” This was resident JP’s recent haul at the entrance of Teacher’s Colony: nails, needles and screws. “I picked them up while walking on Venkatapura main road from 8th cross to juice points at Teacher’s Colony entrance.”
Several residents unaware of this 4-year-old nail mafia story are surprised by these revelations. Says George: “My God, I had five punctures in one week.”
Some residents suggest that the BBMP should take up magnetic sweeping of the streets atleast twice a week to rid the roads and cross roads of these puncture devices. They also ask the cops to make this offence non-bailable to prevent the mushrooming of this trend.
