Chennai: 42 cases booked against drag racers

Chennai: The city police, baffled over recent surge of drag racing incidents in Chennai, had finally managed to crack a whip on bike racers and seized as many as 74 vehicles, on Monday night.

According to police sources, 42 cases including 14 in Abiramapuram, 5 in Mylapore, 4 in Adyar and 13 in Marina police stations were filed on a single night and 74 two-wheelers were seized.

Frequent races on East Coast Road were curtailed by the continuous vigilance of the police. But the race organisers, after a short gap, have entered into city roads with stretches in Marina, Adyar and Santhome becoming hot spots for races recently.

The Adyar police arrested four persons including a juvenile on June 6 for conducting a drag race on Thiru.Vi.Ka. Bridge. The youngsters also conducted a flash race on Kamarajar Road in Marina close to the DGP office the next day. This forced the police the increase vigil on the racers.

On June 5, the Vepery police had arrested three persons including two college students for racing on P.H. Road. Police officials said that steps have been taken to curb the increased instances of drag racing. “We have identified specific stretches, where drag races are conducted frequently. The vigilance has increased on those stretches,” M.C. Sarangan, additional commissioner of police (South) said.

He also added that the police have fixed automatic number plate recognition cameras (ANPR cameras) at many locations. “The cameras will take pictures of the number plates of the racing vehicles and the details of registration details will be used to nab the offenders,” Sarangan said.

Unconfirmed sources said that more than 10 persons were injured in accidents that happened due to racing on Monday night.