What could have been a fun breakfast ride turned into a nightmare for a group of eleven bikers in Gurugram after they were forced to stop by allegedly drunk men who beat them up and damaged their luxury bikes, whose costs range from Rs 10 to Rs 25 lakh.
"They hit me with an iron bat. I survived because of my helmet," Hardik Sharma, who was seriously injured in the incident, told NDTV.
He said that he was also "threatened with a knife". "They also said that they will shoot me if I shoot their videos," he said. The videos of the incident have gone viral on social media.
Mr Sharma also detailed how he traced the accused on Instagram using Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools
Insisting that he and his group were attacked without any instigation, he narrated the events that led to the assault.
"We were going to Panchgaon in Manesar from Ambience Mall for breakfast when a black Scorpio tried to disbalance us near Dwarka Expressway by swerving their vehicle. We stopped on the side to let them pass. But they stopped their SUV in front of us. They were drunk and had glasses in their hands," Mr Sharma said.
"They got out of the vehicle and started hitting one of my friends. When we intervened, they started damaging our bikes. Meanwhile, some of my friends fled the scene to avoid damage to the bikes, as they are very expensive. Each bike costs around Rs 20 to Rs 25 lakh," he added.
Mr Sharma said that he could have avoided serious injuries, but he was attacked again when he went back to save one of his friends.
"I also left, but a friend was left behind. So, I stopped my bike and went back on foot to save him. But by the time I could reach him, he had left, and one of the drunk men took my bike. They started damaging it. They hit me with an iron bat. I survived because of my helmet. They kicked me, hit my hand with the bat," he said.
They left after warning him not to shoot their videos. "They said, 'We will shoot you if you shoot our videos'".
He also alleged that it took him 12 hours to get the First Information Report registered against the men.
"I had to go to several police stations as they were telling me that the area doesn't fall under their jurisdiction. The whole process was going on from 8 am and completed at 8 pm. Then the FIR was lodged."
'Traced Accused Through AI'
Hardik Sharma said that he identified his attackers even before the police could, using AI tools.
"We use some paid AIs on which if you upload photos or videos, it can lead you to the social media of the person in them if they have a public profile. So, we found them on Instagram and we also gave the police the details. We showed them the media of the gym where they worked out," he said.
But even after all of this, there have been no arrests, he rued.
"I don't even know why they started hitting us. They didn't say anything, just started attacking us. I also want them to pay for the damage to my bike. It's a very expensive bike. It costs Rs 11 lakh. They damaged the bike and damaged the accessories worth Rs 3 to 4 lakh that I installed. The damage rounds up to around Rs 4 to Rs 5 lakh," he said.
The police have said that they have identified the accused through CCTV footage, and efforts are on to arrest them.
