Cleaner takes MEA officer’s car for joyride,runs over two men

Singh’s daughter Suraksha was to get engaged on Monday and the wedding was scheduled for February 24. Raman,Singh’s friend who lived in Bangalore,had come to the city to attend the ceremonies. Singh worked as Assistant Vice-President with CitiFinancial.

According to police,Manish had taken five friends,including two juveniles,on a joyride. After the incident,he fled the spot and returned to the Asiad Village house of IFS officer Kartik Pande. He handed over the keys of the car,claiming that the car had been cleaned.

Eyewitnesses told police that the car was being driven at a very high speed. Newspaper vendor Mantu Kumar,an eyewitness,said,“The car was going towards Ring Road. The victims were on the pavement near bungalow

A-5. The car hit one of them and dragged the other for 100 metres. The car climbed the road divider and stopped. There were 4-5 boys who seemed to be in their teens.”

Kumar said after the incident,the “boys” got out of the car and it seemed they “did not know what to do”. As a crowd started gathering and two PCR vans approached the site,they fled the spot,Kumar said. The car is registered in the name of Pande’s wife Esha Srivastava.

In a statement to police,Pande,who is an Under Secretary in the General Administration Department of the Ministry of External Affairs,said he was not aware that the cleaner had taken the car.

“Manish took the keys around 6.15 am,as was the usual routine. After the incident,he left the vehicle at the spot and returned to the MEA officer’s house. He handed him the keys. Around 9.30 am,when Pande went to the parking lot,he did not find his car there. He thought his car had been stolen and informed the police,” a senior police officer said.

Police said Pande was told about the incident involving the car and he then went to the Hauz Khas police station to record his statement.