BANGALORE: A 17-year-old BCom student was caught driving his father’s car on Thursday, and led the police on a 4.5 km chase before they could arrest him.
The High Grounds traffic police said Yashas (name changed), a first year BCom student, first jumped a signal near Nehru Circle in Malleswaram, where he lives. The time was 2.30 pm.
Yashas had taken out his father Dinesh Rao’s car (KA-05, Z 5241) for a spin when the police first spotted him. Suspecting him to be underage, they tried to stop him.
Alarmed, he allegedly sped away, prompting the police to chase him. Yashas’ father runs a jewellery shop.
Police chased him on a bike, but he dodged them for a long time. They have booked him for 17 offences.
They said they couldn’t recall any other case where they had filed so many cases against one motorist at one go.
The cases relate, among other things, to reckless driving, not holding a licence, illegally modifying the exhaust, not wearing a seat belt, using a black tint on his windows, displaying a faulty number plate, jumping signals, not holding an emission certificate and obstructing policemen from discharging their duties.
The police have sent Yashas to a juvenile home. From all accounts, he is not even eligible for a licence. In India, to apply for a learner’s licence to drive a car, an applicant needs to be at least 18 years old.