Pune teen takes water tanker for joyride, knocks down 2; owner, driver nabbed

Pune, June 29 (IANS) A 14-year-old boy allegedly took a water tanker for a short joyride, lost control and knocked down at least two women in the Kondhwa area of the city here on Saturday, a police official said.

The incident occurred around 7 a.m. when the boy climbed on to the driver’s seat, started the tanker and went off for a ride, virtually unnoticed by many around.

Barely had he gone a few metres when he lost control of the massive vehicle and hit a husband-wife on a scooter and a female jogger before grinding to a halt.

“We were informed of the incident by some people out on a morning walk and rushed a police team there. We have seized the water tanker, detained the boy and sent him to a juvenile home,” Kondhwa Police Station Inspector Santosh Sonavane told IANS.

The tanker owner Mahendra Borate and the minor’s father who is also the tanker driver Shabbir Pathan were also arrested and produced before a court on Saturday evening, Sonavane added.

The scooterist Santosh Dhume emerged unscathed but his wife Geeta, riding pillion, was flung a few feet away suffering injuries. The jogger, Sonia Rathod, was also hurt and both were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Eyewitnesses claimed that the tanker owner Borate allegedly attempted to bribe the injured duo by promising to foot their medical expenses in return for not lodging a police complaint, but they refused.

The people in the vicinity with narrow roads and lanes, questioned why the tanker was left unattended with the ignition key and how the boy managed to climb up undetected, go for the joyride that led to two people being injured.

The incident comes 40 days after the high-profile Porsche hit-and-run case involving a 17-year-old boy in which two techies from Madhya Pradesh were killed on May 19, resulting in nationwide furore.

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