Two suspected car thieves escaped from the Bandra Traffic chowkie after the staff there got busy with the VIP bandobast for a vintage car rally that was flagged off by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on January 31. The duo had been brought to the traffic post after a 2-kilometre chase. The case had been registered at Arnala police station on a complaint by Powai resident Rajeev Soni whose car was stolen from Virar last month.

“The Bandra traffic division has a staff strength of 90 that works in shifts. On Sunday [January 31], about 35 cops were on duty, while 20 of them, including officers, had been deployed for the CM bandobast duty,” said a senior traffic officer.