Thodupuzha: Deepu was drunk and the sight of a KSRTC bus parked at wayside here was enough to provoke the driver within him. He jumped onto the driving seat, switched on the bus and rode away until the locals stopped his dream ride two kilometres ahead and handed him over to police.
Deepu Prakash, a youth hailing from Areekuzha in Manakkad, was then slapped with charges of theft bid and remanded by a court in Thodupuzha on Friday.
It all happened around 10.30 pm on Thursday. The bus was parked in front of the Thodupuzha KSRTC depot. Deepu was in an inebriated state when he found the bus. He started the vehicle, took the route to Muvattupuzha through Thodupuzha town.
Feeling thirsty, Deepu stopped the bus two kms ahead and went to a shop to buy a bottle of water. It was there that Siju, a KSRTC driver posted at Muvattupuzha depot and was present at the shop, found something odd in Deepu’s behaviour and asked him which depot he belonged to. Though Deepu was quick to answer that he belonged to the Muvattupuzha depot, he was trapped as Siju asked him to show his ID card and log book. As Deepu tried to flee the scene by the bus, locals stopped him and called the police.
KSRTC authorities came to know about the theft bid only after the police called them. Deepu told the police that he rode the bus out of curiosity and was planning to return it after riding a few kms.
Police said such adventures are not new to Deepu. A year ago, he had stolen an earth-mover in a similar way out of his wish to ride it.
News : Malayala Manorama
