THOOTHUKUDI: Police on Sunday nabbed two Kerala natives after a hot chase while they were trying to make good their escape after stealing a car, at Karisalkulam near Kayathar here.
According to sources, the thieves as Nisil (22) and Mustafa(24), both from Wayanad district in the neighbouring state of Kerala. Both of them were arrested.
According to sources, one Murugesan, a resident of Pushpapuri near Chinnalapatti in Dindigul district and a theatre operator, had gone to work after parking the car in front of his house.
However, when he returned around 2.30 am, he found the vehicle missing. He immediately alerted police, who in turn passed on the message to all the tollgates and the check posts.
Around 5.15 am, the Thoothukudi Superintendent of Police was informed by the Madurai Superintendent of Police office about the theft, following which all the check posts and tollgates in the district were also alerted. The stolen car was spotted at Kayathar tollgate around 5.45 am. When the tollgate employees tried to stop the vehicle, it took a reverse and disappeared on Adaikalapuram road to enter into Tirunelveli by avoiding the National Highway.
However, a police team, led by Kayathar SSI, Marudhanayagam, gave a chase to the car. At Karisalkulam, the two Keralites abandoned the vehicle after getting confused over the route to take and escaped into darkness.
Meanwhile, another patrol team spotted them entering a farm. After searching for them for a brief while, the team finally apprehended them, sources said.
Both of them were arrested and Murugesan was informed. He was later handed over the car.
Sources said that had the car crossed Kayathar tollgate, it would have entered Kerala with ease as there was no tollgate enroute to Kerala. Moreover, it would have been difficult for the personnel to trace the car after it crossed the border.
This is the second such incident in the span of a month. On June 3, the Thoothukudi police had nabbed three thieves escaping on a stolen car from Valliyur in Tiruneveli district after a hot chase.