THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A police jeep belonging to the Parassala police that was parked on the roadside at Parasuvaikkkal on Tuesday night was driven away by four youths.
The incident occurred by 11 pm when the cops were on patrol duty. After parking the car by the roadside, the cops got out for vehicle checking. That was when four people sneaked into the vehicle and sped away towards Alampara's direction.
As the police driver did not take off the key of the jeep, it made the job easy for the men to steal the vehicle.
The police with the help of the local residents chased the vehicle, which was found a kilometre away from Parasuvaikkal.
The person who was behind the wheel was arrested, while three others managed to flee. The arrested has been identified as Gokul, a native of Parasuvaikkal.
As Gokul noticed that he was being chased by the cops, he tried to drive at a higher speed. As he felt he might lose control of the vehicle, he rammed the jeep onto a fence to stop it. The front portion of the jeep sustained major damages from the impact of the collision.
The police's initial inference is that Gokul might've been under the influence of drugs when he committed the crime.
The police have identified the other men, who were with Gokul. Gokul has been booked for vehicle theft and damage of public property.