On a busy road at the heart of Hyderabad, a man recklessly drove an allegedly stolen car into a crowd to escape from its owner, causing havoc and endangering commuters. Visuals showed passersby chasing the car angrily, as the driver continued to race ahead even as a man precariously sat on the car’s bonnet.
On the night of Friday, January 26, Aamir Ali, a resident of Charminar, was driving by Panjagutta in a Maruti Swift Dzire he had rented a few days ago through the rental app Zoomcar. It is alleged that he had no plans to return it as he had already changed the number plate. But Aamir could not have foreseen that he would pass by the car’s owner Mohan Reddy, who was drinking tea by the roadside on Friday night. Mohan immediately identified the car and chased Aamir on a two-wheeler, which allegedly led to Aamir driving recklessly. He then allegedly left the car and tried to run away, but fell and got injured.
The First Information Report (FIR) was registered suo moto based on a complaint by a police constable who witnessed the incident. According to the FIR, constable K Ramesh Goud, who was on patrolling duty on Friday night, was going from Ameerpet towards Punjagutta with a colleague when they saw a crowd near Agarwal Eye Hospital, Panjagutta. Next to the crowd was a Swift Dzire in a damaged condition, with the front, back, and side mirrors broken, the FIR said. They also found Aamir, a resident of Charminar, injured and bleeding in the face.
According to the police, Aamir said he had been driving recklessly and therefore, people on the road tried to catch hold of him. However, he tried to run away, but fell and injured himself. According to the constable, the car’s owner Mohan Reddy then showed up, saying he was the rightful owner of the damaged car. Mohan alleged that Aamir had booked his car on the Zoomcar app a few days ago and did not return it. He had also lodged a complaint against Aamir for this reason at the SR Nagar Police Station.
According to Mohan, around 7.30 pm, he was drinking tea with his friend Harish at a tea stall in Ameerpet when they saw his car pass by in front of them. They then rushed behind the car on a two-wheeler. They said that Aamir tried to escape from them and injured himself. They said that when they finally caught him and asked about the changed number plate, Aamir allegedly said that he deliberately changed it so that nobody would recognise it. The police then took Aamir to Gandhi Hospital to get him treatment for his injuries and registered a case against him.
Panjagutta police have booked Aamir under sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way), 336 (endangering life or personal safety of others), and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code, and sections 183 (driving at excessive speed) and 184 (driving dangerously) of the Motor Vehicles Act.