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Car snatched in Amritsar recovered after hot chase in Mohali
With a hot chase underway as the accused brought their car to a screeching halt and brandished weapons at the public while escaping, residents in the area were left horrified.
In a sequence, straight out of a Bollywood movie, three men, who had snatched a doctor’s car in Amritsar on late Saturday night, were chased by the police on Mohali roads before they made a dramatic escape on foot through a residential area in Kharar, a scene that was captured on closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the locality.
It all started around 11.30 on Saturday night when Dr Tarun Beri, who was dropping off a colleague at Majitha Road, Amritsar, was intercepted by three armed men, seemingly in the age group of 25 to 27. The men fired at the victim and snatched his Audi car. Dr Beri had a narrow escape as the bullet went and struck the gate of a house in the locality.
As the accused drove away with his car towards the Amritsar-Delhi highway, the victim managed to alert the police. Acting swiftly, police flashed a message to teams across Punjab and neighbouring states.
After receiving a tip-off from a toll plaza in Ropar that the accused had fled towards Kurali-Kharar, the Mohali CIA, which was already present in Kharar, got into action. The team was able to trace down the Audi car and a hot pursuit ensued.
The accused, on spotting the police team, sped towards Phase-1, Mohali, and entered Phase-5 where they fired at the CIA team, police claimed.
The accused took a wrong turn, following which the police opened retaliatory fire near Balongi Chowk. They also managed to fling a tracking device atop the car.
“After successfully placing the tracker on their car, we knew that even if we slow down to avoid disturbing the traffic, we will be able to trace the accused. While continuing the chase, we shot at the car’s front tyre and deflated it.”
“Following this, the trio had no option but to abandon the car. They stopped near a liquor vend outside street number 1 in Jujhar Nagar and fled on foot,” a police officer said.
CCTVs in the area spotted them escaping towards the fields around 12.57pm on Sunday.
Meanwhile, police recovered the Audi car from Jujhar Nagar, Mohali, around 13 hours after it was snatched. Cops also recovered a .30 bore pistol from it.
A manhunt has been launched for the accused in Maloya along with Chandigarh police.
CIA Inspector Shiv Kumar, who led the chase, said, “Since we have got their faces on CCTV, they will be identified soon. We suspect that the person driving the Audi suffered a gunshot. The person sitting on the front passenger seat was firing at the police party. We have recovered the weapon from the car.”
According to sources, after escaping from Amritsar, the accused had rammed into a police check post in Beas in the wee hours, as was captured on CCTV cameras.
The accused have been booked under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 186 (voluntarily obstructs any public servant in the discharge of his public functions), 34 (act done by several persons) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) besides relevant sections of Arms Act at Balongi police station.
“Though we are yet to identify the accused, there are two gangs active in Amritsar and we suspect that the accused belong to one of the gangs there,” a senior police officer said.
Panic grips Jhujhar Nagar
With a hot chase underway as the accused brought their car to a screeching halt and brandished weapons at the public while escaping, residents in the area were left horrified.
Local shopkeepers brought down the shutters while others rushed inside their homes to safety as the trio ran through a busy street to dodge the cops.
