Ex-corporator Nagaraj and his two sons arrested in Arcot, Tamil Nadu
Rowdy held after 20-km chase, shootout.
Bengaluru: Former corporator and rowdy sheeter V. Nagaraj, who managed to evade arrest for almost a month, was arrested along with his sons, Gandhi and Shastri, from Arcot in Tamil Nadu on Thursday evening in a police operation that looks as if it was taken straight out of a movie.
According to a member of the police team, the police had to chase Nagaraj for more than 20 kilometers before they finally nabbed him. The police reportedly crashed their vehicle into Nagaraj's van and shot four rounds at his vehicle to stop him. The team, six members from the DCP (East) squad and another six from the Hennur police station, had also taken the help of three locals during the operation.
"We had camped in Tamil Nadu for the last two weeks. We were under strict instructions not to return empty handed. Yet, Nagaraj managed to dodge us. Every time we tried to trace him based on his mobile phone call records, he would give us the slip. He would make a call, then switch off his phone and leave so that by the time we reached there, he would be gone! Finally on Thursday, we got credible information that he was going to Melmalayanur Amman Temple. We thought of the possible roads he would take to return. Our team members in disguise was waiting for his vehicle, a Maruti Omni van, on a stretch between Arani and Arcot. We had posted our men all along the route every 250 meters, there would be two of us," a team member said.
Cops’ filmy style op to nab Nagaraj
“We were alerted soon after he left the temple. When his van came into view we got into other vehicles and quietly followed him for a few kilometers. That's when Nagaraj spotted us and realized that teams of us policemen were chasing him. His son, Shastri, who was at the wheels, slowed down the van and we assumed they would stop. Instead, he took a sharp U turn and sped off in the opposite direction. We gave them chase for more than 20 kilometers. When they did not stop, we rammed our vehicle into their van several times and even then they did not stop. We also shot four rounds at the vehicle tyre, some missed the shot while some hit the van. Finally, when we rammed our vehicle to his van, Shastri lost control and the vehicle crashed into a divider and toppled. Nagaraj and both his sons escaped without injury, and that's when they were nabbed,” he narrated.
The drama did not stop there as Nagaraj had already alerted his family members and relatives about the police chase. “He has many relatives including his sister in Arcot and Ranipet. They had already informed the local police and misled them that their relative was being kidnapped. Our vehicles were stopped by the police there and there was an argument. Finally, a senior police officer from the city spoke to the SP there and we produced the arrest warrant and then only did we leave,” he added.Nagaraj was reportedly staying at his relatives’ houses all these days but never stayed at one place. Since April 14, when the police raided his house in Sriramapura following a kidnap and extortion complaint from a man named Umesh, and found Rs. 14.80 crore in demonetised curreny, Nagaraj has been on the run. He had released two video CDs to the media and had made several serious allegations against top police officers and politicians. Nagaraj has 47 cases against him while his son Gandhi has seven and Shastri has six cases including attempt to murder, assault and Arms Act cases against them.
The arrested trio will be brought to the city in the early hours of Friday and will be produced before a magistrate. The police will request the magistrate seeking police custody of the accused for further interrogation.