In a high-voltage chase at the Hejamady tollgate on Tuesday, cattle thieves, fleeing from Gangolli police, drove their SUV into a group of officers in a reckless escape attempt, leaving three people injured. Despite the chaos, one suspect was caught on the spot.
The injured include Basavaraj Kanashetty, PSI (Investigation), constable Sandeep, and Lohith, the toll patrol vehicle’s driver. The arrested suspect, Mohammed Sharoz (29) from Suratkal, has been remanded to judicial custody.
Earlier in the day, Gangolli police, using an unmarked car, intercepted a suspicious SUV transporting stolen cattle. As they attempted to detain the suspects — Sharoz, Safaan (Kaup), Azeem (Kaup), and Rajik (Bajpe) — one of them instructed Sharoz to drive into the officers.
Sharoz struck PSI Basavaraj, running over his hand. The accused then reversed the vehicle, injuring constable Sandeep, and rammed the toll patrol car, injuring Lohith and damaging PSI Pavan Nayak’s parked vehicle.
Amid the commotion, Sharoz was detained. However, another accused took the wheel, crashed into an oncoming car, and fled with the others through a narrow exit.
Police later confirmed the SUV held 4–5 cattle. A district-wide alert has been issued, and a case of attempted murder and destruction of public property has been filed at Padubidri police station. The investigation is ongoing to track down the remaining culprits.