Operation 'Sanskar': Biker gangs turn towards bhajans after crackdown by Rajasthan Police

Jaipur: In a crackdown on biker gangs in Rajasthan's Dungarpur, police launched operation 'Sanskar', nabbing biker gangs by monitoring their social media activity, officials said.

Police said that not long ago, Dungarpur district was buzzing with the sound of roaring superbikes. Youths, many still in their teens, zipped through the streets in gangs with flashy names like "302", "007", and "Raftar".

The same youth who once posted videos of dancing to rap beats, boasted about stalking women and harassing commuters, carrying out robberies and threatening police, are now making reels with bhajans and declaring that they have given up crime and "worship" their parents, they added.

Looking at the alarming trend and constant complaints from people, operation 'Sanskar' began after he took charge of the district last month in order to prevent the criminalisation of youths, Superintendent of Police (SP) Dungarpur Manish Kumar said.

Instagram is full of videos showing these boys performing bike stunts, flaunting weapons, chasing each other in gang wars, or issuing open challenges. Every like and comment made them bolder.

What started as adrenaline-fuelled rides soon turned into stalking, robberies, assaults, and stone-pelting on highways. Kids as young as 12 were watching, admiring them, and getting inspired.

"Youth purchase power bikes on EMIs, make their own gangs, do crimes like stalking, robbery, assault, and stone pelting on vehicles to rob them. They used to glorify these crimes online by making intimidating reels on Instagram, challenging the law and police. They make their gangs on social media," Kumar told PTI.

"There were several gangs with hundreds of bikers. After making gangs, they fight with each other and post these videos online. Most of these youth range from 18-24 years old. A lot of complaints were being received from the public about these deviant youths. Moreover, they were creating a very bad influence on the children ranging from age 12-16," he said.

The SP said that under the campaign, criminal reels were tracked, accounts were flagged, and the offenders were booked. Their apology videos were shot and uploaded on the same platforms where they once bragged.

"Instagram accounts of these elements who post such reels are identified, and legal actions are taken. They get their support and confidence from social media comments and likes, hence their apology video is also shot and posted on social media.

"Since youth get their news and updates from Instagram and Facebook, we have started using social media to send the right message to the youth. For this, innovative and trendy memes are made by police defaming the criminals online," he added.

Kumar said that the district police began posting funny memes and reels mocking the gangs.

The police reels clocked over 3 million views on Instagram alone.

Over 300 bikes used for stunts were seized under the Motor Vehicles Act, and videos in which weapons were flaunted have been registered under the Arms Act.

Apology videos by the accused were also made.

Citizens have started sending such reels portraying criminal activity to the police, requesting them to take action, the SP said.

"With police taking such strict legal actions, youth have now started putting up reels with local bhajans saying 'Hamne Badmashi Chhod Di Hai Kyoki Police Active Hai'," he added.

As a result of the campaign, Kumar said that traffic is smoother, women say they no longer face stalking, not a single gang war has been reported since the start of the operation, and public support has also poured in.