Punsters fond of Hindi movies call them ‘Gangs of Ahmedabad.’ They are all teenagers from well-heeled families and have money to burn. The motorcycle-borne youths burn rubber in the dead of night, torch parked twowheelers and play the vanishing trick. On July 19, many families in the posh localities of Gujarat’s largest city had a rude awakening when they saw their bikes and scooters going up in flames early in the morning.

   As many as 13 two-wheelers were charred to ashes in the wee hours in one single day in 10 different areas. While another gang of night owls had been smashing windscreens of swanky cars parked on roads and in a matter of a few months they vandalized as many as 45 eyecatching four-wheelers. But this time, the youngsters, most of them students aged between 16 and 19, went on a bike-burning spree.

   They used to go out in groups of four to five bikes, sometimes high on drugs. During such....