Armed cops in civvies on Tuesday chased down a gun-toting man sprinting through a crowded market, jumping lanes, climbing car bonnets and pushing aside anyone in his way as onlookers gaped at what some mistook for a movie shoot.

The target of the chase that started close to South City Mall on Prince Anwar Shah Road was Tarak Chhetri, an accused in several criminal cases and against whom a Calcuttan had filed a complaint of extortion and threats to kill earlier in the day.

Chhetri, 37, was brandishing a single-shot countrymade revolver that he had allegedly pointed at the cops on his heels before realising that he would be outgunned. In his attempt to flee, the accused elbowed or pushed anyone who stood in the way and entered every alley that he thought would throw the cops off his scent.

Many bystanders couldn't comprehend what was happening. Some thought a group of men were chasing a thief, others speculated that it was a war between two goon gangs. Nobody dared to join in since all the characters involved in the chase were carrying guns.

"I thought people were chasing a thief and I was about to shout ' chor...chor' when he pushed a pedestrian aside. But then I saw the men chasing him had guns. I thought it was possibly a gang war," recounted Bishnu Das, a resident of Golf Garden.

The chase for Chhetri was on the basis of a complaint by Sourav Dasgupta, a resident of Katjunagar in Jadavpur, on Tuesday morning. Dasgupta accused Chhetri of demanding Rs 5 lakh from him and threatening to kill him and his family if he didn't comply.

Chhetri had allegedly visited Dasgupta's office - an education consultancy -at Chatterjee International on JL Nehru Road last month and threatened him with a gun. According to the complaint, the accused and some accomplices visited his house last Saturday and allegedly threatened to kill him and his family if he didn't pay Rs 5 lakh within a week.

"We laid a trap after the complaint was lodged. We made the complainant call him to the Lord's Bakery crossing so that we could catch him red-handed," said a senior officer from Jadavpur police station who was part of the operation.

According to the plan, a team of five plainclothes policeman, led by additional officer-in-charge Debashis Dutta, waited at the crossing. Dutta, sub-inspector Suman Biswas and another constable were in his personal vehicle while two other constables stood by the roadside.

Chhetri reached the crossing around 3pm in a taxi and got off the vehicle while an alleged accomplice remained inside. He began looking for Dasgupta and appeared to be making a mobile phone call before sensing trouble, an officer recounted.

He said Chhetri got into the taxi again and apparently asked the driver to steer the vehicle into an alley beside the grocery market at the Lord's Bakery crossing. "Our team immediately gave chase and followed the taxi inside the alley."

The taxi, constantly honking and zig-zagging through the alleys, quickly reached Uday Shankar Sarani and was moving towards Golf Green when the car carrying the cops overtook it and braked, blocking the way.

Chhetri quickly alighted and pointed his gun towards the car but retreated on seeing the cops stepping out and drawing their guns. The two constables on foot had also arrived there by then.

Realising that he had been outnumbered, Chhetri began sprinting back towards the Lord's Bakery crossing, gun in hand, the officer said.

"He jumped over cars and autorickshaws and we chased him wherever he went," the officer said.

Chhetri's alleged accomplice, who had got off the taxi, also began running beside him. As the duo neared the Lord's Bakery crossing, one of the policemen caught up with them and kicked Chhetri from behind. He fell on his face.

As Chhetri turned around, there were three policemen standing in a ring around him, all pointing their guns.

On seeing Chhetri cornered, his accomplice too surrendered by raising his hands. He was identified as Ajay Shaw, 42, an accused in a burglary case in Sonarpur. A knife was found on him.

"I first thought a film was being shot. Only after some time did I realise that it was a real-life chase by real policemen. I had never seen something like this before," said Ajay Das, who was having a cup of tea at a roadside stall when the chase started.

The police said Chhetri, was wanted in at least two murder cases, five instances of burglary and several complaints of extortion. He had been arrested two years ago for a drugs-related offence and came out of jail only last month.