Chennai: Stray dogs lead cops to thieves hiding under car

Chennai: Not only the trained sniffer dogs under their disposal, even stray dogs too come in handy to the police in tracking down crime suspects, as it happened in a recent incident in the city. A pack of stray dogs led the Red Hills police patrol team to two suspects who were hiding under a car near Vadaperumbakkam during the early hours of Wednesday.

According to police, around 2 am on Tuesday, police flagged down a duo on a motorbike for routine vehicle checks near Vadaperumbakkam. The duo, however, turned back seeing the cops after which the two-wheeler sector beat policemen gave them a chase. Abandoning the bike along the Grand line road, the two of them took to their heels into a residential neighbourhood. When the policemen checked on the bike, three mobile phones and a screwdriver were found in the tank pouch after which cops confirmed them to be crime suspects and informed the other patrol teams in the area.

A Gypsy patrol vehicle too joined the cops and the team was scanning the neighbourhood. “One of our men noticed a pack of stray dogs barking continuously at a vehicle. The team scanned in and around the vehicle without much luck when one of them got to the ground to check under the car to find the two men hiding under it,” Red Hills Inspector (crime), D. Karunagaran said.

The duo was identified as S. Balamurugan (20) and N. Shaktivel (18) both residents of Attantha ngal village on the outskirts of Chennai city. Investigations revealed that the duo targeted migrant labourers and security guards during the late hours of the night and robbed mobile phones and valuables from them. The two-wheeler used was also a stolen bike, police said.