New Delhi: An amateur video that captured dramatic scenes of a burning car being chased by a man on a Gurugram flyover went viral on the social media on Tuesday evening. Explaining the incident, police said Rakesh Chandel, 44, had gone to Sector 25 to distribute Diwali gifts on Tuesday and was returning home when the car he was driving suddenly caught fire. Chandel, an employee of a manpower firm in Manesar, had a narrow escape, police said.
In the video, Chandel is seen running behind car before the vehicle hit an auto on the Rajeev Chowk flyover, towards Hero Honda Chowk.
Chandel said he heard some noise and stopped to check what was wrong with the car. “I got down and checked all tyres but they were intact. Then again, I started the ignition and drove towards the flyover but within seconds the same sound started coming from the car,” he said.
Chandel got down again and opened the car bonnet but could not detect the problem. He again started and as soon as the car reached the flyover, he heard a sound and noticed flames.
“I tried to apply brakes but they had failed. I jumped out of the car. Though I applied hand brakes but the car didn’t stop,” said Chandel.
Chandel said he immediately called police control room, fire station and his employer to report the incident. A PCR reached the spot within minutes and they tried to stop the moving car but failed. The car rammed into an auto-rickshaw that was coming from the wrong side.
IS Kashyap , assistant divisional fire officer from sector 29 fire station, said they had sent a fire tender.
“I was shouting for help but people were busy recording videos, I was about to faint and no one came to help. Nobody even shared drinking water with me,” said Chandel.
A case has been registered under section 174 of the code of criminal procedure (CrPC) at the Sadar police post.
