Fleeing SMC staffer runs over female cop, held

Surat: A contractual staffer of Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) was detained on Sunday evening for running over a lok rakshak dal personnel on Rander-Gorat Road when cops tried to stop his car.
According to police, Rander police station staff were on routine check to catch Covid guideline flouters on Saturday evening. At around 5.45 pm, accused Rutvik Patel, a resident of Rander Road, was passing by the checkpoint in his car when cops signalled him to stop. He, however, did not stop and instead tried to to escape in full speed and in the process knocked down LRD cop, Puja Rabari, who was also signalling Patel to stop.
Even after the impact, Patel did not slow down or stop but drove his car’s wheels over Patel’s legs and escaped from the spot. Later, at night Rabari lodged a complaint at Rander police station against an unidentified car driver. Police said that CCTV cameras captured the incident and also the registration number of the car. Based on the car’s number, they could track down Patel and nab him on Sunday.
During interrogation, Patel told police that he got scared when he was signalled to slow down. “The accused is making up a story that he got scared, it is very evident in the footages that he deliberately ran over our staffer,” said a police official.
Patel was hired on contract by SMC for door-to-door survey of Covid patients, was sent for Covid-19 test on Sunday evening and will be formally arrested on Monday when his test reports arrive.