Forty-eight hours on and the Lucknow police are yet to identify the driver of the red beacon car, which knocked down Lakshmi Shanker Shukla (35) on Wednesday night.Shukla, a resident of Daliganj, was dragged for almost a kilometre by the Ambassador at the Tadikhana crossing. Owing to this, Shukla lost his left leg and will be undergoing a surgery of his other leg on Saturday. The police have named three persons as the owner of the vehicle, but have not questioned any of them as yet. According to Anupama Singh, Station Officer of Madiaon, it was a private car which sported a State Integration Council board. On Thursday, while Singh had said that the vehicle belonged to one Syed Waris, a Chowk resident, Investigation Officer Sub-Inspector Om Prakash had said that it belonged to one Mohsin Khan.Inquiries made by The Indian Express, however, showed that no Syed Waris lived at the address given by the station officer. Another police officer said it was being used by Ram Lakhan Chaurasia, council vice-president. Chaurasia, however, said he did not know anything about the accident and had no idea about any vehicle with the council board involved in the incident. The police had not questioned him regarding the accident.Senior Superintendent of Police Akhil Kumar said the vehicle had a government department emblem attached to it. “We will ask the department to tell the name of the driver who is still absconding,” said the SSP. Asked about the progress made in the case, Additional Superintendent of Police (Trans-Gomti) Ashok Prasad said it was “a small case”, and he was busy investigating a kidnapping case.Shukla runs a small business and his family includes his wife and three children.
