New Delhi:
A car belonging to an officer in the Ministry of External Affairs was stolen for few hours by a cleaner today. He ended up killing two people out for a walk near Ansal Plaza, a mall in South Delhi.
The Swift Dzire car is registered in the name of Esha Srivastava, Kartik Pandey's wife. Mr Pandey is a senior Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer.
At 6 am, a cleaner named Manish and four of his friends decided to go on a joyride. It's not yet clear whether they broke into the car or managed to access its key. After 30 minutes, Manish lost control of the car and hit Sultan Singh and Raja Ram who were on their morning walk. Mr Singh was a vice-president with Citibank Finance. His daughter was to get married on Friday. Mr Ram, a resident of Bangalore, had travelled to Delhi to attend the marriage.
After the accident, the five men in the car disappeared, leaving the car behind. Passers-by rushed the victims to Delhi's AIIMS hospital, where they were declared dead upon arrival. The five accused are now being held by the police. The prime accused Manish has confessed. A case under Section 304(a) of the Indian Penal Code for causing death by negligence has been registered.
The accident comes a day after a speeding Lamborghini sports car crashed in South Delhi's BRT corridor. The driver, who was the son of a real estate developer, died; a cyclist was injured.