CM Vijay honoured Coimbatore Head Constable M. Velmurugan at the Secretariat on 29 Sep 2026 for clinging to the roof of a speeding gutka-laden SUV, leading to three arrests.
Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, invited Head Constable M. Velmurugan of the Kovilpalayam police station in Coimbatore to the Secretariat in Chennai and felicitated him for clinging to the roof of a speeding SUV carrying banned gutka for tens of kilometres, leading to the arrest of three men and the seizure of the consignment.
The Chief Minister praised Velmurugan’s courage, presence of mind and commitment to duty, presented him with a memento and a certificate of appreciation, and advised him to stay careful and safe while on duty. Director General of Police and Head of Police Force Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal was present (SSBCrack, Deccan Chronicle, Kerala9).
Acting on a tip-off that banned tobacco products were being brought in from Karnataka, Velmurugan and Sub-Inspector V. Vignesh tried to stop a Karnataka-registered SUV on the morning of Sunday, September 27. According to police, the three occupants pushed the officers aside, shut the doors and drove off. Velmurugan climbed onto the roof of the moving vehicle and held on to the roof rails as it raced along the Coimbatore–Avinashi highway, past the Kaniyur toll plaza (The Federal, Deccan Chronicle).
Other police units joined the pursuit, and the SUV was finally intercepted near Avinashi, close to the Tiruppur district border. Police arrested three men from Rajasthan, aged between 20 and 27, and seized the vehicle along with the banned gutka and tobacco products; reports put the seizure at between 170 kg and 231 kg, and the distance he travelled on the roof at 30 to 40 km.
Videos of the head constable clinging to the speeding SUV — shot by other motorists and an NHAI ambulance crew — spread widely on social media, and the public hailed him as a real-life “Singam”, after the fearless film policeman. The Chief Minister’s invitation to the Secretariat followed within two days of the chase.
Gutka and other chewable tobacco products are banned in Tamil Nadu, and cross-border smuggling from neighbouring states is a recurring enforcement challenge for the police. The TVK government set up a special unit to tackle drug smuggling on its first day in office, and the Chief Minister set out his priorities for policing in his Assembly reply on September 7.
Sources: The Federal, Deccan Chronicle, SSBCrack, TV9 Tamil, Minnambalam, Kerala9. The arrested men have not been convicted; they are not named here.
Tamil Nadu Police Coimbatore Day 142