Drunk man drives away police vehicle, hits truck

Coimbatore: A 23-year-old drunk man drove away the Tirupur city (south) traffic police inspector’s vehicle that was parked on Mangalam Road with the key in it and hit a truck on Tuesday afternoon.
A police officer said the accused - S Vijay, of Chengam in Thiruvannamalai district - had fractured his right shoulder in the incident and was undergoing treatment at the government hospital in Tirupur.His condition is said to be stable.
The officer said the vehicle was parked near the Tirupur city municipal corporation office. “Its driver Rajaguru, who is attached to the Tirupur city armed reserve police, had left the key inside the vehicle. Vijay, who came there in an inebriated state, saw the vehicle with the key in it and drove that away without grabbing the attention of policemen in the locality.”
After a while, Rajaguru realized that someone had stolen the vehicle and informed his superiors, who alerted all police stations in the district and instructed cops to conduct vehicle checks.
Meanwhile, the Uthukuli police received an information that a police vehicle was involved in an accident near S Periyapalayam on Uthukuli Road. “People had rescued Vijay, who was severely injured, from the vehicle and alerted the108 ambulance services, before the Uthukuli police reached accident spot. Police later took him to the government hospital,” the officer said.
He said Vijay was a car driver. “Vijay had driven the police vehicle away for at least 7km from the city municipal corporation office, before ramming the truck, which was coming from the opposite direction. The police vehicle had overturned in the impact of the accident.”
The officer said they have initiated an inquiry against the police vehicle driver, who is likely to face charges of dereliction of duty. “Once the inquiry is over, a detailed report will be submitted to the city police commissioner G Karthikeyan, who will take further action.”
Police are also likely to register a first information report against the drunk man who drove away the vehicle and take action against him after he gets discharged from the hospital.