Brigadier Kanwarjeet Singh’s damaged car at his Hulang Road residence on Thursday. (Bhola Prasad)

A gang of juvenile delinquents has unleashed a reign of terror along the Kadma-Sonari Link Road, attacking people and vehicles and teasing women for the past six months.

The wayward group — comprising at least five boys, one of them wearing a turban and all aged between 16 and 17 years — are on the prowl after sundown, sometimes on a sports bike and sometimes on hybrid two-wheelers. They go for their kill in splinter groups of two or three, slap women, abuse elderly and smash windscreens of stationary cars to satisfy their crude lust for fun. Speed and suddenness ensure that their victims have little time to react or retaliate.

The gang’s latest preys were two residents of Kaiser Bungalows, one of them a retired army man, and a young evening walker.

On Tuesday, the cars of bungalow No. 3 resident Sujata Kumar and No. 5 resident Brigadier Kanwarjeet Singh were parked along Hulang Road when, around 8.45pm, there was a loud bang followed by sound of crashing glass. The two residents rushed out to see the rear windscreens of their cars shattered. The bike-borne boys had lobbed boulders at the vehicles and fled. Singh later lodged a complaint with Kadma police.

Around 7.45pm on Wednesday, the bike gang slapped a young woman walking along the link road towards Sonari. The victim, who was talking on her mobile phone, was left stupefied and her handset damaged.

Local residents have time and again complained of the alarming frequency of this teenage “hooliganism”. According to them, the gang strikes four to five times a week with no one to rein it in.

Evening walker Rubina, who also fell victim to torment a week ago, said she had stopped her exercise regimen. “Forget fresh air, such lawlessness has left us gasping for breath. We are panic-stricken every time we go out in the evening. The administration should act now,” she said.

Sub-inspector Raju of Kadma police station admitted that they had received complaints. “But it is difficult to nab them. They create trouble and escape as swift as lightening. Our patrol cars can barely match their speed,” he conceded.

The police officer also maintained that they could not take “rough measures like spiking wheels,” because they were all teenagers. “They ride at break-neck speed. If we take such a step, there may be a fatal accident,” he explained.

For now, the plan is to depute plainclothes policemen to “catch them red-handed”. How exactly if the gang escapes on speedy bikes is something the men in uniform still need to figure out.