66km chase for 44 minutes culminates in arrest of four

RAJKOT: Kutch police’s routine work was flavoured with some familiar Bollywood action masala as they found themselves a part of a cat-and-mouse chase amid the scorching summer heat, tailing four miscreants, who were fleeing in an SUV after firing at villagers in Nani Virani village of Mandvi taluka on Wednesday.
After a relentless pursuit for almost an hour, the Gadhsisa police nabbed the four, identified as Vijbha Gadhvi (26), Kuldeep Jadeja (24), Siddhraj Jadeja (27) and Imran Rauma (24). It began with sarpanch Lalji Maheshwari chastising the four SUV for driving recklessly in the village’s narrow lanes. The four had gone there to settle a monetary dispute they had with one Jitu Patel.
They went to his house, but after not finding him there, they went to a temple to search for Jitu’s father. However, the overall demeanour made the four look suspicious. While asking them to drive responsibly, Maheshwari also questioned them about their purpose of visit. By then, villagers got curious about the unknown vehicle and gathered around. The four sensed trouble and tried to beat a hasty retreat. However, they found the escape route blocked by a crowd and opened fire to scare onlookers.
As the miscreants sped away, Maheshwari alerted the Gadhsisa police about the incident. Soon, a police team started moving towards the village in a van when they spotted the SUV coming from the opposite direction. However, cops could not intercept the speeding vehicle and thus started the chase from the GMDC area.
The accused stepped on the gas pedal even as another police team tried to create a roadblock near Sherdi village with tyres. The SUV, however, jumped over the tyres and sped away towards Vandh village. The team then informed their counterparts at Koday police station and Mandvi police station as well to block roads. This too failed when the speeding SUV outmanoeuvred the cops on Mandvi highway by passing from the side of the road after seeing the police van parked on the road and fleeing towards Dahisara. Cops didn’t give up and two police vans from Koday and Gadhsisa police stations along with another private vehicle followed the SUV hot on its wheels.
By this time, the SUV took a U-turn and started going towards Koday, where cops this time turned the tables on them by placing three trucks to block the road! The tactic was successful and the SUV finally came to a halt.