Close to two dozen police vehicles were engaged in a high-speed chase over several kilometres for a liquor smuggler minutes after he gave Excise officials the slip early on Monday morning.
According to the police, 42 cartons of illicit liquor were recovered from the Tata Sumo, which Satish (26), a resident of Vinod Nagar, drove over four kilometres to escape the police upon being apprehended.
Three police personnel in a Police Control Room (PCR) van stationed near Vijay Chowk, noticed the Sumo bearing a UP number plate, ram a Toyota Innova, later found to be driven by an Excise official around 3 a.m.
When he fled the spot immediately, the PCR van personnel chased the Sumo even as they alerted other PCR vans in the area for assistance.
“Within minutes, there were about nine of our PCR vans chasing the Sumo, which was being driven in a rash manner. While trying to escape, the Sumo driver even rammed police barricades,” said a senior police officer.
“The vehicle was finally intercepted near the Lady Hardinge Medical College. A total of 42 cartons of liquor were found in the vehicle. The driver told us that he was carrying these from IFFCO Chowk in Gurgaon to Noida for delivery,” the officer said.
The liquor, most of which was found to be locally manufactured, and the vehicle were seized, while Satish was arrested.
