After being dropped off at his workplace on Thursday, 40-year-old Jeetendra Yerangale was shocked when his driver suddenly revved up the engine and zoomed off.
According to the Amboli police, which has registered a case of theft, the driver, Baljeet Verma, 24, drove away with his employer’s car, which also had some cash in a briefcase.
The car and stolen cash amounted to Rs14lakh, police said.
The incident occurred after Verma dropped off his employer Yerangale at his workplace at Laxmi Industrial Estate, Andheri.
Police officers said that Yerangale, a resident of Versova, had a meeting to attend that afternoon. Around 1.30pm, he reached the spot and asked his driver to take care of the briefcase which allegedly contained Rs6 lakh in cash.
However, to his horror, when he had walked a few paces and turned around he could see the car disappear into the distance.
He repeatedly called his driver on the mobile phone but it was switched off. Yerangale then rushed to the Amboli police station and registered a complaint.
In his statement to the police, the Yerangale said that he had hired Verma as his driver only a fortnight ago. “He had got the job through a friend, Naresh Yerangale, who runs a photo studio in Versova,” said a police official from Amboli police station.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Yerangale had not furnished Verma’s personal details and the mandatory police verification was not done.
“We are trying to record the statement of the friend to know his whereabouts. We are also trying to trace the driver through his mobile phone. Further investigations are on in the case,” said the police official.
