The Sunday morning crackdown on high-end cars on East Coast Road — when a handful of police personnel daringly stopped a fleet of 10 cars including Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Mercedes, Audis and Porsches — has turned the focus on a problem that residents of the ECR have long been complaining of: speed merchants who don’t give two hoots about the safety of other road users.
While nine of the cars were detained at the toll plaza, the driver of one car who took off was traced and brought back to be booked under various sections of the the IPC and the Motor Vehicles Act.
According to the police, the seized high-end cars that remain at the police station are worth nearly ₹60 crore in total.
The price of each car ranges between ₹2 crore and ₹8 crore.
The Motor Vehicle Inspector was asked to inspect whether the cars have been modified against rules. Only after he issues a certificate will we release the vehicles, said the police.
The FIR registered against them said, “They were driving the vehicles dangerously, in a rash and negligent manner, endangering life and violating provisions relating to noise pollution.”
It is suspected from the vrooming sound that the cars made that the youth had made some alterations to the engines. This would have to be investigated, and if found true, other sections under the Motor Vehicles Act can be invoked, police sources added.
They said: “They were driving the vehicles in a formation from Akkarai. During morning hours, the road is always peaceful here. But these drivers caused high-decibel noises by stepping on the accelerator.
“We think that they might have tinkered with their vehicles to make it possible to race. Each vehicle created a sound as if a helicopter was flying on the road. We assume that the vehicles could have been driven between 150 and 180 kmph.”
Chase sequence
T. Soundararajan, Traffic Inspector Neelangarai, recalled Sunday’s chase sequence: “Following instructions from our superiors, we mounted surveillance over the East Coast Road to crack down on racing by high-end cars and bikes between 4 a.m and 7.a.m. Early morning, we spotted high-end cars racing past Akkarai on East Coast Road and informed another team in Panaiyur. But that team was unable to stop them. Finally, it was traffic Sub-Inspector Mukesh Kumar who stopped those vehicles as they slowed down at the Uthandi Toll Plaza.” The men behind the wheel were in the age group of 20-23 and were driving towards Muttukadu. Their plan was to have breakfast at a star hotel close by and then participate in the launch function of a high-end car model.
An unusual scene played out at the toll plaza as the drivers questioned the police team for stopping their vehicles. Mr. Soundararajan said, “None of them had any papers with them — not even a photocopy of the driving licence or vehicle documents were with them.” Meanwhile, policemen said the drivers went live on Facebook justifying their racing and vilifying cops for taking action against them.
Then, the Traffic police personnel alerted the Law and Order police personnel attached to the Neelangarai station. Immediately, Assistant Commissioner, Neelangarai, S. Pandian rushed to the spot and ordered the vehicles to be taken to Kanathur station. In the melee, Ragav Krishnan, one of the drivers, sped away in his Lamborghini, running over the leg of an inspector Soundararajan. Mr. Pandian then instructed the constables to accompany each vehicle, and nine drivers with their cars were brought to the Kanathur station. Another police team was dispatched to bring the Lamborghini and its driver Raghav Krishnan from his residence to the station. The cars were detained on the premises of Metro Rail adjacent to the station.
The Kanathur Police booked cases against 10 persons — Vigneshwar, Siddharth Sankar, Vishal, Dr. Yeswanth, Vinayak Nilesh, Shankar Raman, Prassanna Babu, Karamchand Bothra, Keerthi Rajagopal and Ragav Krishnan — under sections 279, 336 and 353of the IPC read with provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act. A separate case was booked against Ragav Krishnan for injuring the Inspector. All were released on bail on Sunday night.
