The police in Bengaluru spent the wee hours of Saturday tracking an allegedly inebriated youth who had attacked a cab driver at Bilekahalli, off Bannerghatta Road, and subsequently drove away in his car.
For three hours, the night patrol police and their colleagues in the traffic police drove the length and breadth of Bengaluru trying to track the ‘runaway car’.
What adds to the seriousness of the case is that the youth was drunk, said the police.
Luckily, he was not involved in any accident.
R. Hitendra, additional commissioner (Traffic) said, “Traffic is very thin during the early morning hours, which might have averted a major tragedy.”
It began around 2.20 am when the driver, Venkatesh (40), a resident of Thanisandra, was ‘attending to the call of nature’ by the roadside at Bilekahalli signal. “A youth approached me from behind and asked for the car keys. He seemed drunk. When I refused, he kicked me in the abdomen, snatched the keys and fled with the car,” said Venkatesh, who alerted his cab company MegaCabs, who in turn called the police.
The cab is equipped with a GPS system, which helped the cops track the vehicle across the city.
“The youth was crisscrossing the city. From Bannerghatta Road, he went to Shivajinagar and then to Hennur. From Hennur, he began heading towards Electronics City. We rushed to the toll gate on Hosur Road, blocked the car and arrested him around 5.30 am,” said Inspector B.K. Shekhar Mico Layout Police Station, who led the police team. The youth seemed to have suspected that he was being trailed because he disconnected the GPS system minutes before he was stopped at the toll gate.
“Our hunch that he would go to that particular spot paid off,” Mr. Shekhar said. As the cops tried apprehending the youth, he came out shouting, “No Harm. I Love India.” He was identified as Ibrahim Abdul Mulallabi (33), a Nigerian studying BBM in a college at Yelahanka. He lives with a friend in K.S. Layout. His visa had expired in January 2016, cops said. Mr. Shekhar said that Ibrahim was sent for a medical test.
The chase
2.20 am; Bilekahalli signal
Cab driver stops for a break
Ibrahim snatches key from driver
Gets into cab and drives away
Heads to Shivajinagar
Turns to Hennur
Heads to Electronics City
Cops head to toll gate
5.30 am; Hosur Road toll gate
Ibrahim stops at toll gate
Nabbed by cops
