Police car tips over during hot pursuit of stolen auto

A high-speed drama unfolded on the streets of south Delhi in the early hours of Friday after police personnel chasing a stolen auto-rickshaw were involved in a crash, resulting in the police vehicle overturning on the Ring Road, officers aware of the case said on Sunday.

However, another police team continued chasing the four suspects and managed to corner them at a forest area, arresting one, the officers said.

The arrested suspect then gave up his partners in crime, and by Saturday evening, a second suspect was arrested, police said, adding that raids are on to nab the remaining two. Giving details of the case, police said that an auto driver — police did not share his name — was driving his vehicle in Mahipalpur at around 5am on Friday when four people boarded the auto and asked him to take them to Safdarjung Enclave.

While the auto was passing through Africa Avenue Marg, police said, one of the men asked the auto driver to stop on the pretext of urinating. When the auto driver stopped, his passengers then started assaulting him, robbing him of his cash and documents and fleeing with his vehicle towards Ring Road. However, they did

The auto driver then called the police helpline, and within minutes, a team led by Ravinder Kumar Tyagi, station house officer of the RK Puram police station, reached the spot and started looking for the accused.

“We tracked their escape route and succeeded in locating them near Moti Bagh. As the police team was chasing them in three police Gypsies, the accused intentionally rammed into one of the speeding vehicles, which lost control and overturned near the Moti Bagh gurdwara. Sub-inspector Hanuman Sahai and ASI Ram Singh were left injured in the incident,” deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Rohit Meena said.

The other two police Gypsies continued chasing the accused, who abandoned the auto near RK Puram and fled on foot into the nearby forested area, said police. “As the police entered the forested area and cornered the accused, one of them picked up a brick and assaulted another policeman. He was caught by other team members,” said Meena, adding that the remaining accused managed to escape the forest area, and drove off in the stolen auto.

Police then arrested the accused, identified as Sumit Kumar, 27, and his interrogation revealed that he is involved in over 11 criminal cases, and had come out of jail on bail in May. Kumar also revealed details of the three other accused, and on Saturday evening, police arrested Kush Yadav, 24, from his home in Palam with the stolen autorickshaw and cash.

Police said Kumar, Yadav and their associates are part of a gang that commits snatching in RK Puram, Palam, and Dwarka, adding that they have been active since January.

Meena said searches are being conducted to arrest the absconding two.