A policeman driving a police jeep allegedly hit a two-wheeler, sped off without stopping and when intercepted later, narrowly missed hitting several people while trying to escape on the jeep here on Friday. The jeep, in the process, rammed a lorry that was coming from the opposite side.
Abdul Samad, driver of the police jeep attached to the Women's Police Cell here, was allegedly in an inebriated condition and reportedly hit a two-wheeler near the South Police Station. Samad drove off without stopping, but the two-wheeler rider caught another vehicle, chased him and intercepted him on the Iron Bridge a couple of kilo metres away.
The two were soon engaged in an argument with Samad claiming that he was not drunk and that he had not hit the two-wheeler. Traffic soon came to a standstill on the narrow bridge and the public started to gather around the jeep.
ADVERTISEMENT
According to eye-witnesses, Samad panicked on seeing the crowd and as he slammed the gear to drive off again, the gear lever broke off, throwing the vehicle out of control. Even as the crowd scattered, some escaping narrowly, the jeep crashed into a lorry that was coming from the opposite side. Just as the angered crowd was beginning to manhandle Samad, another police jeep from the South Police Station reached the spot and took Samad to the Alappuzha General Hospital, where he has been admitted.
As per the police version, Samad was not inebriated. His appearance and demeanour “resembled that of an inebriated person because he was taking medicines for a liver ailment”. The police claimed that the two-wheeler had hit Samad's jeep and not the other way around. The police also claimed that the gear lever of the jeep was damaged by the crowd and the two-wheeler rider while manhandling Samad.
A medical test has been conducted on Samad and his blood samples have been collected for analysis, reports of which would be available only after three days, police said. One case has been booked against Samad for ramming the lorry while another case has been booked against the two-wheeler rider for manhandling the policeman who was on duty.
ADVERTISEMENT