In pursuit of petty cash and vanity, autorickshaw drag racers in Chennai put lives at stake

CHENNAI: The stakes were very low – a few thousand rupees and a sense of vanity – but the odds that an auto rickshaw drag racing would end in a mishap were always high.

Two people died, and 4 others were seriously injured on the city’s Outer Ring Road on early Saturday morning, after an entourage of bikes trailing the autos, clashed and fell while over-speeding and filming the drag race.

While it was initially suspected to be a hit-and-run accident by an over-speeding car that had also caused the fatalities, interviews with the injured revealed that they were part of the illegal drag racing gang. On Tuesday, police arrested 7 people and search is on for 30 more.

While the actual race was between two autos, a group of overzealous supporters in autos, cars and two-wheelers sped along with the ‘racers’ to get a ringside view to post on their social media.

Avadi city police’s Red Hills Traffic Investigation Wing found that the drag race was between ‘Garudan’ Chandru, an auto mechanic from Mogappair (east), and Solomon (SXR Sala) of Perumbakkam housing board. The remaining 10 autos, 2 cars and over 20 bikes were part of the cheerleading team. The race started at 4 am.

“The bet was just Rs 5,000. It’s unfortunate that the deceased risked their lives for this,” a senior police officer said.

Apart from the meagre winning money, there is a sense of vanity involved in these drag races. “Say, an autorickshaw can travel at a maximum speed of 70 km/hour. The mechanic retrofits the vehicle to attain speeds up to 90 km/hr. Mechanic who works on the winning auto earns a good reputation among the cult, and this increases his clientele,” pointed out an officer with Avadi city police.

While auto racing on highways in the city outskirts has been prevalent for several years, even inspiring a 2007-Tamil movie, ‘Oram Po’, social media has given a fillip to the egos of those involved. DT Next went through the social media accounts of some of those involved in the drag racing.

Instagram reels with gaana songs glorifying auto racing and punch lines from movies are regularly uploaded, some as recent as February this year. Some even include the hashtag #autoracing.

According to an auto driver in Chennai, it’s an unwritten rule among racers and those part of the entourage that they report nothing to the police in case of accidents. As if substantiating this theory, the Instagram reels even show the autos toppling and bikers hitting barricades on the highways and falling off.

Saturday’s incident resulted in fatalities and injuries, and a police investigation was inevitable leading to the arrests. “The deceased – Shyam Sundar (26) and Manikandan (25) – are two-wheeler mechanics, and friends of the main accused,” police said. “The injured Mohana Krishnan (30) of Besant Nagar, Marimuthu (22) of Kannagi Nagar, Jasper (20) of Mangadu, and Zubair (21) are under treatment at the Government Stanley Hospital.”

When the police recovered the bodies, they had initially suspected it to be a hit-and-run case as a few metal parts from a car were found near the accident spot. Police first arrested ‘Garudan’ Chandru and his accomplice Joyson.

Based on the inputs provided by the duo, five others – Madhi, Ramesh, Rajasekar, Premkumar and Gowtham – from different parts of Chennai were arrested. Police seized two auto rickshaws from the accused.

“Special teams have been formed to trace 30 more involved in the race. Action will be taken against those involved in such illegal activities endangering their own lives, and those of the public,” warned Avadi Commissioner K Shankar.