The Madras High Court on Thursday, October 5, dismissed a bail petition filed by biker T.T.F. Vasan alias Vaikunthavasan (23), in a case booked against him for rash riding on a public road. The vlogger-cum-motorcycle racer was thrown off his bike while performing a wheelie on the service road of the Chennai-Vellore national highway on September 17.
Justice C.V. Karthikeyan said he was not inclined to grant bail to the biker in view of the submissions made by an Additional Public Prosecutor that the petitioner had a following of 4.5 million youngsters who admired him, and consequently asked their parents too, to purchase expensive motorcycles that cost lakhs of rupees. Some of these youngsters also indulge in chain snatching and such other crimes using these motorcycles, besides riding them very rashly on public roads endangering the lives of other motorists and pedestrians, the APP said.
The APP also said that Mr. Vasan was riding a motorcycle worth around ₹20 lakh and wearing a suit worth ₹2 lakh when he performed the stunt on September 17. It was because he was wearing the suit that the petitioner escaped with minor injuries when he was thrown off the vehicle while performing the wheelie on the public road. Luckily, no other motorist suffered any injury because of his act that had endangered his life as well as the lives of others, and the entire incident was captured on closed circuit television (CCTV) camera, the law officer added.
The AAP further told the court that the petitioner’s followers were being carried away by the stunts performed by him with expensive motorcycles.
After recording his submissions, the judge said, “quite fortunately for others and unfortunately for the petitioner,” he alone had suffered an injury during the incident. “It is a lesson for him. Let him continue to be in custody,” the judge said and dismissed the bail plea with an observation that the medical examiner in prison could examine his hand which was said to have been fractured.
