Peddler steals cop van in Chhattisgarh; getaway foiled by phone left inside

RAIPUR: _{A rooftop leap turned into a brazen getaway — and a swift comeback. A suspected drug peddler jumped off a house in Ambikapur of Surguja district in northern Chhattisgarh, slipped into a police van parked outside and drove off, only to be tracked and arrested within an hour through a cop's mobile phone left inside.}Late Tuesday, a team led by trainee DSP Nishant Kurre reached Sattipara under Kotwali limits to search a suspect's home. As officers moved in, Mukesh Namdev — identified as a relative of the main target — spotted them, vaulted off the rooftop and sprinted to the road. A patrol vehicle stood outside, keys inside, no one in the driver's seat. Open goal. Namdev jumped in and sped off.Moments later, officers stepped out, empty driveway staring back. Panic, then pursuit. Nearby CCTV stitched together the flight: the same vehicle, same man at the wheel.Break came from a slip-up. A police team member's mobile phone lay inside the van. Police put it under surveillance, zeroed in on its live location and closed the loop. A unit rushed to the spot. Namdev was picked up, vehicle and phone recovered.From dash to detention, the sequence ran barely two hours. A fleeting escape, undone by a small oversight — a reminder that in a hurried getaway, what you leave behind can be your loudest clue.