CHENNAI: A midnight vehicle check near Madipakkam turned fatal when a speeding car knocked down a 33-year-old traffic constable on the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Radial Road on Monday. Police are probing whether the driver fled the checkpoint fearing a breathalyzer test.
After noticing a car suddenly reversing and speeding away near the checkpoint, Meganathan, of the Traffic Enforcement Wing, pursued the vehicle on his two-wheeler without wearing a helmet, said a police source. Near Kamakshi Hospital, he managed to pull alongside the car and signalled the driver to stop. Instead, the vehicle allegedly hit his bike, throwing the cop on the road and sped away.
Meganathan was working as the driver of a traffic inspector. Though it was his scheduled rest as per the duty roster, Meganathan had come to assist the traffic inspector during the vehicle check, sources said.
In the early hours of Tuesday, the city police control room received a call from a man admitting that his car had hit the constable. The Pallikaranai Traffic Investigation Wing traced the call to Sairam (32) of Madipakkam, originally from Rajasthan, and seized the vehicle. He was taken into custody for inquiry.
Sairam, who runs a jewellery and pawn shop, was returning home with his family after a function when the incident occurred.
A case of causing death due to negligence has been registered, and drunk-driving charges will be added if medical reports confirm alcohol use, police said.
DCP (Tambaram) Samay Singh Meena said investigators are verifying Sairam’s claim that he was not intoxicated and are reconstructing the sequence of events to determine whether the constable was hit accidentally or deliberately when the driver attempted to evade interception.
Meganathan’s body was sent to the Government Hospital, Tambaram, for postmortem.