Delhi drama: Caught driving drunk, man drives away with police’s alcometer!

New Delhi, Dec 3: If one is drunk and the top of it, a thief, then what law is applicable for him/her? Police personnel doing their duty at New Delhi's Connaught Place area last Friday night had a bizarre experience when a man, allegedly found drunk while driving, snatched the detecting device (alcometer) and sped away.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, the man, identified as Rishi Dhingra, who works for a private firm, was driving a black Maruti Swift car, was stopped by the police to check whether he was drunk while driving. When the test on the alcometer was found to be positive, the head constable who was doing the duty asked the driver to park on the side of the road. The man pretended that he was parking but suddenly reached for the device and sped away.

"The traffic police had noted the last four digits of the Maruti Swift car's registration number. That helped us reach the suspect's Noida residence. But he had already left for London on a professional tour," the police were quoted as saying in the report.

"The suspect has been identified as Rishi Dhingra, an employee of a private firm. We have seized the black Maruti Swift he drove at the time of the crime. But he told us that he had thrown away the alcometer soon after fleeing from the police check post," Madhur Verma, deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi), was quoted as saying by HT.

The local police were alerted following the incident and also a case of theft was filed on charges of disrupting a public servant's duty.

A person found driving in inebriated state can be jailed for up to six months, fined Rs 2,000 or both. Repeat offenders can be jailed for up to two years and slapped a fine of Rs 3,000 or both. Of late, the police are also seizing driving licences for offenders for a period of three months.