KAKINADA: Not one to lose his source of income during lockdown, a taxi driver continued to ferry passengers until he was caught on Tuni-Narsipatnam Road on Friday. During a surprise checking, Tuni police saw a speeding car going towards Visakhapatnam and blowing police siren. In its front-end, the car had a plate fixed that read it belonged to the Vijayawada deputy commissioner of the commercial taxes department.
As the police tried to stop the car, the driver sped away. This resulted in a high speed chase for 8 km before the vehicle was finally intercepted. When the officials checked it, nothing was amiss except that the driver was using a senior government official’s board and police siren. The accused was identified as 35-year-old Vemukuri Srikanth, who was taking three passengers from Vijayawada to Nathavaram in Visakhapatnam rural for Rs 6,500. During investigation, it was found that the car was previously hired by the government official for a year.
Previously, he ferried several passengers from Vijayawada to Vizag and other cities. Srikanth belongs to Edupugallu in Kankipadu mandal of Krishna. The police booked him under Sections 307, 279, 188 and 171 of the CrPC. “Srikanth was arrested and his car seized. The passengers were directed to report to health and revenue officials for check-up and, if need arises, they would be sent to quarantine centres,” Inspector Kishore Babu said.