Police chief M Velmurugan clung to the roof of a fleeing SUV for more than 25 miles during a high-speed chase after officers intercepted a suspected tobacco-smuggling vehicle near Kaikolapalayam. The Hyundai Creta reached speeds over 60 mph along the Salem-Kochi Highway toward Mangalam junction in Tiruppur, before suspects abandoned the car and were arrested; about 230kg of banned gutkha was recovered.
