Mentally ill man steals bus, takes passengers for a ride
Greater Noida: A mentally challenged man stole a private bus from Ghaziabad, picked up 20 passengers and drove through Greater Noida at high speed on Thursday afternoon before finally being brought to a halt by police near Dadri.
He introduced himself to the police as the sub-divisional magistrate of Allahabad and told them that the passengers were sweepers appointed by him, and he was taking them to Delhi to clean the city. He said he was a huge fan of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
It later emerged that the 30-year-old was mentally challenged. The cops called up his family when he gave incoherent answers to police’s questions. Police said his name is Satish and he is from Allahabad. He had run away from home around 15 days ago and landed in Ghaziabad.
Satish stole the bus from Ghaziabad on Wednesday night and took it on a joyride on Thursday afternoon. He picked up the passengers from different spots in the city and people initially did not realise there was something wrong. They started panicking when he lost control of the bus and refused to pay heed to the passengers’ complaints.
The passengers immediately informed the police control room that a private bus approaching Sikandrabad is being driven rashly and their life is in danger. A police team started monitoring all the possible routes from Noida to Sikandrabad via Dadri and laid pickets on the roads.
During interrogation, police contacted his family and were told that he is mentally challenged and is undergoing treatment in Allahabad. Police said the stolen bus belonged to Rajesh Yadav from Shastri Nagar in Ghaziabad. “We informed Satish’s family. They will come to Dadri to take him back. We haven’t lodged any FIR as no complaint has been filed,” said Singh.
The passengers stuck in the bus have also not filed a complaint. They thanked their stars that they had esacaped any accident.
“Initially we didn’t realise the driver is mentally ill. When he started driving from Dadri to Sikandrabad, we sensed something is wrong. There was also no conductor. We informed the police and are thankful to be rescued,” said Naveen, a passenger.
