Calcutta, Aug. 28: The EM Bypass was the scene of a chase right out of a Bollywood potboiler. And like the formula films, the police was left with egg on its face.

A suspected drug peddler ran away from the chasing police by throwing bombs, firing from his country-made pistol and hijacking a car from a roadside mechanic’s garage with a promise to return it.

The stage was set for a showdown when residents of Duttabad near Salt Lake stadium told officials at South Bidhannagar police station that Mohan Mondal, a miscreant with police record, had been spotted and sought help.

“He was driven out of the area by the local people in 1997 as he was running a drug peddling racket and other criminal activities,” said Praveen Kumar, the North 24-Parganas superintendent of police.

On reaching home, Mohan and his three associates apparently began threatening the neighbours.

“When our jeep reached the area, the excited locals rushed to Mohan’s home to drive him away. Mohan and his friends ran out and threw bombs at the jeep,” a police official in the raiding party said.

“They took a side lane to the bypass and, as we chased them, they threw another bomb. To scare the chasing crowd, Mohan fired two rounds in the air,” he recounted.

Bombs bursting and guns blazing, the chase headed for a crowded Saturday bypass around 11.30 am.

Soon the fugitives spotted a Maruti 800 parked at a garage just off the bypass. It had been repaired and a mechanic was filling air in one of the tyres. Mohan and the three jumped in and sped away, but not before calling out they would return the car.

“Apnar kono chinta nei, amra thik-thak pouchhe gari ferot diye debo (You don’t have to worry, we’ll return the car as soon as we are finished with it),” they screamed while speeding off towards Parama Island near Science City.

The police, stuck in their jeep in a bylane near Mohan’s house, reached the garage after the gang had fled.

Pradyut Barman, the Maruti owner, has lodged a complaint with South Biddhannagar police station.