CHENNAI: Police have launched a search for two women who enacted an accident drama in front of an autorickshaw and allegedly took the driver's mobile phone from him near Egmore on Saturday.

The victim, P Bala Selvavinayakam (62) is a resident of Ponniammanmedu near Kolathur and has been driving auto for the last two decades, police said.

On Saturday, when he was riding towards Egmore, two women fell in front of his auto near Sundaram lane, Purasawalkam. When Selvavinayakam alighted from his vehicle, the women picked up an argument with him claiming that he drove the vehicle in a rash manner and soon few persons, claiming to be relatives of the women surrounded the auto driver and his vehicle.

They demanded money from the auto driver and when he claimed that the vehicle did not even touch the women, he was assaulted. The gang then took his mobile phone worth Rs 12,000 and fled the scene.

The auto driver filed a complaint with the Vepery police and later got admitted at a government hospital for his injuries.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that one of the women is 65 years old and the other, 38 years old. Further investigations are on.