The ‘magical pothole’ that helped cops nab gangsters - Hindustan Times
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The ‘magical pothole’ that helped cops nab gangsters

Gurugram | By
Jul 21, 2019 03:37 AM IST

The pothole that trapped wanted men’s cars has finally been filled.

Visualise this—two white Scorpio SUVs, packed with policemen, chasing a white Mahindra XUV 500 with four most wanted gangsters. The four have been dodging the police for nearly half an hour on Dwarka Expressway but around midnight, their white XUV abruptly comes to a halt.

Representative image(Praful Gangurde/ HT Photo)
Representative image(Praful Gangurde/ HT Photo)

Three men step out and with all their muscle, push the vehicle. But their luck soon runs out as the police catch up. They open fire at the police, who retaliate.

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That night, they might have sped away, but for the three-foot deep and one-foot long pothole on Dwarka Expressway that trapped the front tyre of their car. The bane of Millennium City—potholes—had just come to the Gurugram police’s aid in nabbing the men after a brief crossfire.

On July 17, around 2.30am, the police knew it was time to capture another group of gangsters when they saw the men struggling to get their car out at the same spot mid-chase.

Later, during a press conference, the police said that three of them had repeatedly tried to make the car go while the fourth man was trapped behind the wheel as the front door couldn’t open.

In the 30-minute-long chase between the police and alleged members of the Manjeet Mahal gang, operational in Delhi, Gurugram and Rajasthan for over two decades, the real hero was our city’s very own pothole. Inspector Bijender Hooda, who led the team that nabbed the four men told me in a later that the police referred to it as a “magical pothole” among themselves.

In fact, in August last year, the same pothole helped the crime branch arrest two other most wanted gangsters, who were on a motorcycle. Also, in March this year, two snatchers hit the same pothole and landed behind bars. More than 50 vehicles have got stuck in the “magical pothole” this year alone, the police said.

But the stardom of this pothole has ended, and rightly so.

Police commissioner Muhammad Akil, along with a Haryana Vision Zero team, which is working on reducing road fatalities, identified around 200 potholes across the city for immediate repair and refill on Thursday, a day after the Manjeet Mahal gangsters were nabbed. This one was among the ones that were filled up on Friday evening.

While quite a few gangs were slowed down thanks to this pothole, let us hope that regular policing is enough to stop wanted men from running in the future. Because not every pothole can be
“magical”.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Leena Dhankhar has worked with Hindustan Times for five years. She has covered crime, traffic and excise. She now reports on civic issues and grievances of residents.

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