In a horrific incident in Kakinada city of East Godavari district, a college student rammed his car into traffic policemen at SP Office on Sunday evening, injuring a head constable.
The driver of the car has been identified as 21-year-old Sidda Srinivas, a final year B.Tech student.
The incident happened when the police were holding a helmet checking drive in the city on Sunday. Even as the cops stopped the car at the Three Town Police Station, the accused forcefully hit a traffic barricade and mowed down the head constable who tried to stop the vehicle.
Srinivas, who hails from Thondangi, is studying engineering at a private college in Kakinada.
According to sources, as many as five students were travelling in the car with Srinivas and all of them were under the influence of alcohol.
The entire incident was recorded on CCTV. The footage initially shows the police grappling with Srinivas’ vehicle, which is moving slowly on the left side of the road, in an apparent attempt to stop the drunk youth from driving the car. As the car gathers speed, one policeman, who is the head constable who was later injured, is seen pulling a traffic barricade from the other side of the road and pushing it in front of the car to slow down the car. But the driver picks up speed and races away, in the process mowing down the head constable.
The police immediately rushed the injured cop to the Kakinada government hospital.
The car was later seized in another part of the city. Speaking to TNM, Kakinada DySP P Ravi Varma said, “Despite appeals from the cops on duty, he drove the car causing severe injuries.”
Srinivas was arrested on Tuesday and sent to remand. The Kakinada town police have registered a case under Section 307 (Attempt to murder) and 332 (Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) of the IPC and under the Motor Vehicles Act for negligent driving.
Correction: The earlier copy had claimed that the constable was severely injured. TNM has since learnt that the constable is safe with minor injuries. The error is regretted.