New Delhi, Nov. 26: A car carrying STAR News journalists back home from work late last night was chased and forced to stop near Akshardham temple in east Delhi by two men who smashed the windowpanes with iron rods and tried to molest the women inside.

Aditi Arora Sawant and Padmaja Joshi frantically called 100 ? the police control room (PCR) number ? but no help came for over half an hour. Two men in a white Tata Indica (HR 38 KT 4373) started chasing their office car on Nizamuddin bridge around midnight, Aditi said.

“Our car had the company logo and the ‘Press’ label on it. The first time, they overtook us in a sharp manner on Nizamuddin bridge but the driver was able to dodge them. Later, the car forced the company vehicle to stop near the temple.

“By this time, we had called the PCR several times and told them what had happened. But there was no response for over 40 minutes,” she said.

A man got out of the car with a rod and demanded that the journalists come out. When they refused, he broke the windowpanes and tail lights of their car. Both men abused the women and tried to molest them.

The driver was finally able to drive further down the road towards the Hindustan Times Apartments in Mayur Vihar where a police picket came to their help, Aditi said. An FIR was lodged at Mayur Vihar police station around 1.30 am.

The police said there was no delay in lodging the FIR. Asked why no one responded when the car was stalled near Akshardham temple, deputy commissioner Madhup Tiwari said: “There is usually a patrol car posted out there but it had gone to attend a local call about a loudspeaker.”

Tiwari said the assailants had been identified and would be arrested soon. A Delhi police team has been sent to Haryana to catch the duo.

Over the past year, several women have been raped in moving cars in Delhi and the police have failed to act even when alerted on time. A Delhi University student was kidnapped from Dhaula Kuan and raped by four men in a Santro as it criss-crossed the capital.