Chittoor: Cops on mission to bust drug gang meet with accident; 3 dead

Chittoor: Two Bengaluru cops and a car driver died in a road accident in Chittoor on Sunday. The team was going for a drug smuggling investigation when their car crashed on the highway. The deceased have been identified as Sub Inspector Avinash (29) and constable Anil Mulik (26) and driver Maxwell Joseph. Sub Inspector Dikshit L and constable Sharanabasava were injured.

Chittoor SP Rishanth Reddy said a group of five policemen were traveling between Chittoor and Tirupati, on a special operation. Police had received information that the drug-peddling gang is operating in Andhra Pradesh. Police said Syed Tousif of Yarabnagar in south Bengaluru had come to Shivajinagar to sell ganja on Saturday.

Four cops belonged to the Shivajinagar station in Bangalore city. On receiving the movement of a drug peddler in Andhra Pradesh, the cops were sent to investigate. Since it was a special operation, the officers were traveling in a private vehicle. Preliminary information said the accident occurred due to a steel barrier on the highway at Puthalapattu village, Chittoor district. The car got crashed into the side of the highway. "The exact cause of the accident is still unknown. The investigation is going", said Rishanth Reddy.

Bodies have been sent to their hometowns after postmortem. The injured policemen were shifted to Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore.