GREATER NOIDA: “Don’t take a lift from any suspicious person or vehicle. If you take a lift from any suspicious person or vehicle, then you can become a target of any unfavourable incident” — reads one of the several posters put up by the Greater Noida police across the Pari Chowk area.
The posters pasted at the bus stand and other points at Pari Chowk also carry an advice for the public to travel only by bus or a pre-booked cab and come in the wake of at least five cases of loot by the “screwdriver gang” in the Beta II police station area in less than a week.
The posters will also be put up at other places, including Zero point and Pi-III roundabout — the major pick up points for the commuters, police said.
Additional DCP (Greater Noida) Vishal Pandey said the idea was to discourage commuters from taking a lift from unregistered taxis and other suspicious cabs. “In most cases, people took a lift from car-borne accused. In most cases, those were unregistered taxis used by criminals to target commuters,” he said.
Screwdriver gang members identified, yet to be arrested
Police, however, claim to have identified the members of the notorious screwdriver gang that has been targeting commuters awaiting commute at the pick-up points in Greater Noida. Cops say the accused used to target commuters at different pick up points like Pari Chowk, Zero point and the Pi-III roundabout.
Meanwhile, commuters say that a particular strata of the society is more likely to take a lift.
Alok Singh, a member of the Active Citizen’s Team of Greater Noida, said, “If four people are already seated in a taxi, the basic requirement for people is that they should not sit in such a vehicle. Awareness is required at a mass level for this to be effective even if loot is not happening.” “In the Pari Chowk area, a particular gentry of people tend to take a lift whenever they see a vacant cab approaching. Some self-awareness is also necessary for commuters,” he added.
