Sacked driver steals bus to win back wife, children

Yavatmal , Maharashtra: A former employee of the state transport department stole a bus to convince his estranged wife and children that he was no longer jobless, said an official.

Devendra M. Nimgaokar, 35, driver with the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, was sacked in 2007 for prolonged absenteeism from duty and alcoholism, said Shivaji Targude, an official of Wadgaon police station in Yavatmal.

Nimgaokar's mother and sister died a few years ago and he was suffering from depression. The Wani state transport depot, where he was employed used to deploy him on long distance routes. He was reluctant to go on these and often bunked duties.

As a consequence, Nimgaokar was sacked following which his wife and two children left him to live with his in-laws in Ichhora village.

On May 21, a bus of the Wani depot made a regular night halt at the Yavatmal bus depot.

Sensing an opportunity, Nimgaokar allegedly got into it and sped off to his wife's village to convince her that he had been reinstated in service.