Deekshith DV
Daijiworld Media Network 

Mangaluru, Dec 24: We might have heard or seen ambulance drivers shifting patients from the city to state's capital within 4 hours or 4.5 hours in zero traffic, but here is a unique story of an off-road racer, who rode his Fortuner car for 420 km within four hours.

It was a do or die situation for the Dakshina Kannada police, when an eight-year-old boy Anubhav grandson of a retired Chief Petty Officer in Indian Navy was kidnapped on the evening of December 17, from near his house in Ujire.

The police who worked day and night managed to obtain accurate information of the accused and drew conclusions on the whereabouts of abductors and their hideouts in Koranahalli village in Malur taluk, Kolar taluk.

The police team also realised that to zero in on the abductors, they have to be able to catch them in a short amount of time. Thus, the police decided to take the help of Ajay Shetty, a resident of Ujire and an expert off-road racer to help them in their mission. When police officers requested Ajay for help, he stepped forward without any hesitation and used his own car for the job.

Ajay Shetty along with a team of police officers left Beltangady at 11 pm and successfully reached Koranahalli village in Kolar district at 3 am travelling a total distance in 8.41 hours (419.5) km via the Handpost of Charmadi Ghat, Belur, Hassan, Channarayapatna, Nelamangala, Bengaluru and Koranahalli of Kolar district.

Sources in the police department informed that if the police team had delayed by even 10 or 15 minutes, they would have lost the men, who were planning to cross into the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu as Kolar falls on the border of these states.

Speaking to Daijiworld, Ajay Shetty said, "Officer who led the team called me and for a favour in the task. Without revealing anything they just asked me to accompany them in their mission and I kept driving as per their instructions."

"I began wondering, whether it was possible for me to drive for more than 400 km in just four hours. Although it was night, and the traffic was dense, we managed to reach the spot on time and successfully trap the accused," he said.

He also said that a few locals had objected while detaining the accused, they were also holding sticks and lethal weapons but the officer's intelligence in handling the situation helped us in our task. The local police officer and staff also helped, he said.

Speaking to Daijiworld, police sub-inspector Nanda Kumar who was also part of the team said, "The service rendered by Ajay Shetty during our mission has been commendable. It would have been challenging if we had failed to reach the spot within a short span of time."

Superintendent of police B M Lakshmi Prasad also congratulated Shetty for his service to the department.

Ajay Shetty, son of Ramachandra Shetty a social worker and Hemavathi R Shetty has won many prizes in the off-road racing competitions held across the country.