Bike owners issued a diktat: Install safety devices, purchase anti-theft app from police station at ‘affordable rate’. Or else, cops will take it ‘seriously’In the last eight months, 101 bikes — most of which are Royal Enfield Bullets — have been stolen from KR Puram. If that does not make you slam your brakes, get this: police in KR Puram are knocking on doors of Bullet owners to collect their details and advise them on how to secure their bikes from an interstate gang which has a penchant for Bullets.So the police have come up with a simple solution to the problem: they’ve asked bike owners to install additional wheel locks and not park it on the roadside. But this one takes the cake: they are asking people to install an anti-theft app which is available at the police station at an ‘affordable price’. Bike owners have been given one week to comply, otherwise police will take it ‘seriously’.On August 31, Balaji Singh, a KR Puram resident was taken by surprise when a police official rang the doorbell of his residence. A cop attached to the KR Puram police station asked for the registration number of his Bullet, his contact number and took his signature on a letter which lists out precautions. A copy of the letter dated August 30, 2018, available with Bangalore Mirror states that Bullets are being stolen by an inter-state gang. The letter says that the police suspect these expert thieves are from other states but are targetting Bullets in Bengaluru city. If any biker fails to pay heed to the precautions, the cops will take a serious note of it, the letter warns.An official attached to KR Puram police station said, “We had convened a meeting with Bullet owners on September 1 and several measures were discussed and decided by the officials to trace the thieves.” The official also confirmed that they were doing a door-to-door campaign in KR Puram to alert Bullet owners. “The gang is not interested in 4-wheelers as it is hard to steal them. We have also issued notices to the residents of KR Puram who own two-wheelers to be alert and keep us informed of any suspicious activity. Currently we are only focussing on Bullets, and will gradually shift focus to the safety of other vehicles too. Once the bike is stolen and taken out of the state, it becomes difficult to trace it. So, we are taking measures to prevent thefts.”Police suspect that a gang from Bihar and Tamil Nadu may be lifting Bullets, taking it out of the city and re-selling it in parts or full. KR Puram has witnessed 510 bike thefts in the last 5 years. In April this year, the Whitefield Police Station had informed there had been 264 bike thefts in the last 5 years. Even house burglaries had been common in the area too. On March 13, BM had reported about five burglary attempts made in one night in KR Puram. The residents in KR Puram had taken to night patrolling then, while the police station had issued a warning too.Singh told BM that he went to the police station the next day to confirm if the police were indeed on a door-to-door campaign. “They confirmed that it was a genuine visit and appreciated my efforts to verify it. They told me that a gang has entered the city to steal Royal Enfield Bullets due to the growing demand for these bikes in Bihar and Tamil Nadu.”Raju Reddy, a techie and an owner of a Royal Enfield, says, “Buying a Bullet is aspirational, but stealing a bike like this has sent shock waves through the Bulleteers. We hope the police will nab the thieves soon. The police are suggesting we park the vehicles inside the compound. But many houses in Bengaluru do not have parking space and people are forced to park their bikes on the road.”But efforts are on to nab the thieves. Says Abdul Ahad, DCP Whitefield, “The bike thefts have indeed been on the rise. There are about 39,000 houses in KR Puram. We have made efforts to reach people and distribute pamphlets warning them of bike thefts. Most thieves come through the railway junction at KR Puram and mix with the crowd in the market nearby, so it becomes hard to nab them. This has become a challenge for us. In the last one year, we have made 35 per cent recovery of stolen two-wheelers from the area. We are also on a drive against cannabis as many of the thieves are under the influence of it when caught. Thefts have been reported across Whitefield including TC Palya, Devasandra and Ambedkar Nagar. I also blame social media as there are several videos on YouTube demonstrating how to steal a Royal Enfield bike which makes the work of the thief easier.”