COLLEGE STUDENT IN INDIA 'ADMITS' TO DRIVING WITH OFFICER ON SUV BONNET

After hoodwinking the Chandigarh police for two days over the scary episode of driving a sports utility vehicle (SUV) through city streets with a traffic cop precariously lying on its bonnet, a local college student Sunday 'admitted' that he was the driver. Kranti Saini, a second year arts student at the DAV College in Sector 10 here, Sunday told his police interrogators that he was the one who drove Tata Safari around with traffic constable Sarat Ram perched on the bonnet of his vehicle.

The police had registered an attempt-to-murder case along with the charge of obstructing a police official from discharging his duty on the traffic offender following the incident. The attempt-to-murder charge was slapped on him, considering the gravity of the incident in which the traffic constable could have lost his life.

Saini had earlier tried to misguide the Chandigarh police saying that though the vehicle belonged to him, he was not at the wheel when the incident took place late Thursday. He blamed his friend Saddiq, also a student of the same college who is still at large, for hitting the traffic policeman and driving away with him.

The SUV, registered in Nawanshahr town of Punjab, hit the traffic cop after he signalled it to stop for traffic violations. Its driver was talking on a mobile phone while driving and was not wearing the seat belt. He tried to speed away when signalled to stop. Sarat Ram fell on the bonnet of the vehicle as it hit him. The driver drove around with the traffic policeman on the bonnet for over two kilometres.

Ram finally fell from the SUV after it hit another car near the Khalsa College in Sector 26. The Safari sped away after this accident too. The Chandigarh police, looking for the vehicle, finally found it abandoned at Mohali town, 10 km from here, Friday. The offender had abandoned the vehicle to hoodwink the police after getting a complaint lodged in Ropar town, 45 km from here, that it had been stolen.

However, the police identified the vehicle owner, an educationist in Ropar town, and arrested his son Kranti. The police tried to catch Saddiq by getting Saini to call him but he evaded them after hitting a police vehicle with his expensive Skoda car in Sector 11 here Friday night.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Devinder Thakur said the police had approached Saddiq's family and they had assured to bring him before law as soon as they locate him.