CHENNAI: A car that had entered the Chennai Harbour to pick up a coast guard officer, allegedly lost control and plunged 90 feet into the sea from a jetty on Tuesday night. The officer managed to escape and swim to safety, and the car has been pulled out the water, however, the driver is yet to be found, police said.
According to Harbour police, the driver has been identified as I Mohammed Shahi of Kodungaiyur, an acting driver employed at a private travel company and hired by the Indian Coast Guard in Chennai for the past few months.
A police officer told TNIE, “Shahi had entered the harbour in a Chevrolet Tavera to pick up Jogendra Kanda, a coast guard officer, around 9 pm. He had parked the vehicle at a jetty. After picking up Kanda, the vehicle was headed to another coast guard post inside. However, as Shahi was making a turn, he allegedly lost control of the car and it plunged 90-ft deep into the sea.”
‘Driver yet to be traced despite searches by team of scuba divers’
Kanda, who was sitting in the backseat, broke open the rear window, swam out and climbed over the jetty to safety. He then raised an alarm and alerted those who were present at the spot. Police and fire and rescue services personnel rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation to locate Shahi.
“We had hoped that if we pull the car out, we can rescue Shahi too, as we had assumed he would be inside the car. However, when we got the car out in the early hours of Wednesday, Shahi was not inside. The driver side window was found broken.
Moreover, one of the front tires of the car was found to be burst. We are yet to ascertain if the tyre burst led to Shahi losing control of the vehicle,” the officer added. Despite several searches conducted by a team of scuba divers, Shahi is yet to be traced, police said.
On Wednesday, Shahi’s family arrived at the harbour and staged a protest demanding that the police locate him immediately. Police officials then spoke to the family members and pacified them, as search efforts continued. Coast guard officer Kanda was admitted to the Army Hospital at St Thomas Mount.