Man who fled with alcometer arrested

NEWDELHI: A man who had allegedly driven off with an alcometer after being flagged down for suspected drink driving in Delhi’s Connaught Place last month was arrested from Mumbai airport on Friday night, police said.

A day after the alleged crime on November 23, the suspect had flown to London on an assignment, prompting the police to issue a lookout circular (LOC) against him at all airports in the country, said Madhur Verma, deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi).

“The suspect was arrested from the Mumbai airport on Friday night by the security officers there. He has been handed over to us,” said the DCP.

The officer said that the snatched alcometer has been recovered. “The alcometer was kept at a table at his Noida residence. He had earlier told us that he had thrown away the alcometer,” said Verma.

The suspect’s black Swift car was already seized by the police a day after the crime. The traffic policeman whose alcometer the man allegedly snatched had noted down a part of the car’s registration number.

The suspect works for a private firm in Haryana and lives in Noida.

“He was flagged down by a traffic policeman on suspicion of drink driving. He had pretended to blow into the alcometer, pretended to pull his car over on the roadside but sped away with the device,” said the DCP.

A case of theft and obstructing a public servant from performing duty was registered at Connaught Place police station.

If caught for drunk driving in Delhi, a person can be jailed for up to six months, fined Rs 2,000 or both. If the motorist is caught again within three years, he can be jailed for two years, fined Rs 3,000 or be given both punishments.

In the recent years, the police have been seizing driving licences of the offenders for three months.