Gang robs doctor of car; 2 held

Police sources said the two were arrested early this morning, within six hours of the incident. All the gang members were in an inebriated condition at the time of the crime, sources added. 

Vettri Vignesh (22) of Muthaialpet, Puducherry, was a post graduate student of a private medical college in Porur. He was returning to his hostel after having his dinner at Annanagar, on Monday night. Around 10.15 pm, he parked his car in front a tea shop near Maduravoyal, a four-member gang intercepted him. He was threatened at knife-point to part with the cash in his possession and the car. When he refused, the gang attacked him and fled with his car. 

Those in the vicinity rushed Vignesh to a hospital, even as Maduravoyal police was informed. The patrolling police traced the car to 10th Main Road in Annanagar. 

When police approached the vehicle the occupants of the car tried to escape. The police managed to nab two of them. But the others fled the scene. 

The arrested duo was identified as J Vignesh (20), an engineering student from Tirumangalam and A Vignesh (24) of Ayanavaram. Both of them were taken to the Annanagar police station for further investigation. 

During the inquiry it came to light that they were history-sheeters. A special team has been formed to apprehend the other members the gang and the stolen car. 

Following the recent incident involving an Ola cab driver in which the taxi driver and two others tried to sexually assault a lady doctor on Sunday night, the city police on Tuesday held a meeting with the management of private call taxi operators to discuss the safety of passengers. Senior police officials discussed various procedures to be followed by the companies before hiring drivers such as doing a full background check, criminal history etc. 

“We have already done this in the past and there are strict guidelines available for cab operators before recruiting drivers. But with the competition among call taxi firms gathering steam, many organisations fail to put such measures in place,” a senior police official said. Call taxi operators on the other hand claimed that it was difficult for them to do all the background checks as mandated by the police as it is an arduous task to get good drivers.