Men ‘kidnapped’ traffic police, took him on ‘joyride’

Three men in inebriated state ‘kidnapped’ an on-duty traffic policeman and took him on a “joyride” before being arrested, police said here on Wednesday.

The incident happened on Tuesday when the men from Thane halted their vehicle in the middle of a road in the busy Chheda Nagar locality of Chembur in eastern Mumbai. All were “heavily drunk” the kidnapped policeman said.

Informed of the development that was creating a traffic snarl, police constable Vikas Munde rushed to the spot.

He found a dark grey Honda City parked in the middle of the road blocking traffic movement during rush hour and knocked on the windows.

One of the youngsters rolled down the windows and Munde saw he was drunk, the car reeked of liquor and empty beer bottles were lying around.

He ordered the driver to park the vehicle properly by the side of the road, but the other occupants stepped out and in a drunken rage, started arguing with him.

“They soon started abusing and beating me. They pounced on me and pushed me inside their car, and before I knew, they were speeding off at high speed,” a shaken Munde told mediapersons later.

His colleagues relayed messages for help through his walkie-talkie to the Police Control Room and a team of policemen from Vikhroli Traffic Police chased down the vehicle.

They managed to intercept it nearly three kilometre away near the Eastern Express Highway in Ghatkopar, confiscate the vehicle and took two of them into custody, as the third managed to slip away.

Senior Police Inspector, Tilak Nagar Police Station S.P. Kamble said that Viraj S. Shinde, 21, and Gaurav M. Panjwani, 22 have been arrested while police were on the lookout for Raj Singh.

“The breath analyser tests revealed they were heavily drunk, and even unfit to make a statement. We have booked them under various sections of Indian Penal Code and Motor Vehicles Act,” Kamble added.

They will be produced later on Wednesday before a magisterial court.

All three are residents of Thane’s Ghodbunder Road, from well-to-do families and were reportedly on a “joyride” in the car that was recently gifted to one of them by his father.