A brave cop clung to the roof rails of a speeding SUV for nearly 20 miles after suspected tobacco smugglers fled a dawn vehicle check.
Head Constable M Velmurugan jumped into action after the driver suddenly sped off, leaving him hanging onto the moving vehicle.
The extraordinary chase began when the police were conducting checks near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, India, at around 5.45am on September 27.
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Officers received information about a consignment of banned tobacco products being transported from Bengaluru to Coimbatore in a white SUV bearing Karnataka registration plates.
When the police approached, the driver initially slowed down before suddenly accelerating.
Sub-Inspector V Vignesh was left with his hand trapped in the vehicle’s door.
Vignesh ran alongside the SUV for several metres before falling clear.
Meanwhile, Velmurugan climbed onto the roof and gripped the rails as the vehicle sped away, as reported by creatorzine.com.
The constable remained clinging to the moving SUV as police teams followed in pursuit and attempted to find a safe way to bring the vehicle to a halt.
An ambulance was also brought into the operation because of fears for Velmurugan’s safety.
The SUV passed through a toll plaza before the chase ended near the Tiruppur district border where police vehicles and an ambulance forced the suspects to stop.
The three occupants abandoned the SUV and attempted to flee on foot but were caught and placed under arrest.
The police identified them as P Babu Dhara, 27, A Rajesh, 23, and S Suresh, 20.
The authorities said the three men were from Rajasthan and had allegedly transported around 170kg of banned gutkha and other tobacco products from Bengaluru to Coimbatore for delivery to associates.
Two of the suspects suffered fractures to their arms while attempting to escape, according to police.
Velmurugan later said: “I realised that the suspects should not be allowed to escape, so I held on to the rails tightly until they were captured.”
He added: “As police personnel, we were simply doing our duty.”
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