Kolkata cop nabs bike thief after 8-minute chase

KOLKATA: It looked like a scene right out of a crime thriller, when a bike thief was caught by a sergeant after an approximately eight-minute chase through one of north Kolkata’s most crowded stretches on Monday afternoon.
The chase — covering a distance of around 1.5 km — was interesting given the bike, lifted from under the Belgachia bridge, had a GPS system that had alerted the owner about the theft. Sergeant Surojit Porel, from Shyambazar traffic guard, heard the call for help and decided to chase the thief. The accused has been identified as Safikul Laskar, a resident of Darapara in Park Circus, who had earlier been caught for lifting mobile phones on buses.
“Today at about 2.10 pm, Porel was on duty near Belgachhia crossing when he noticed one motorcycle (belonging to the victim’s friend) was chasing another on the west-bound flank along Belgachhia bridge. The pillion rider of the second motorcycle indicated that he needed immediate help. As per the sergeant, without knowing the matter in detail, he started overtaking the bike chasing the first one,” said DC (traffic) Arijit Sinha.
Porel noticed that he was chasing one black colour Honda Dream ( WB 01AB 8845) and the rider was without helmet. Porel finally intercepted the rider at the northern end of Ghaznavi bridge near Kolkata station. The accused was handed over to the Ultadanga police.