VILLUPURAM: He had this insatiable urge to sit behind the wheel of a heavy vehicle though he was not authorised to do so. Prohibited by law, he chose to lift buses under influence and paid the penalty.
Meet Ajith Kumar, who does not keep what he takes - he simply drives it around for a while, parks it on the roadside and leaves with the satisfaction of having driven a bus.
The incident unravelled after Perumal (53), of Salem, approached the Villupuram West police station with a bus missing complaint. The man owned a travels service and had parked two buses in a shed near the office in Villupuram. One of the two buses went missing around a week ago. Perumal and staff searched for it and registered a complaint few days back.
On Saturday night, a police team which was investigating the case found the bus parked at the Cuddalore bus stand. The bus as duly brought back on the same day. Further inquiries led them to R Ajith Kumar (24), of Periyapettai near Chidambaram. During inquiries, he confessed to having taken the bus and added that he taken countless buses in a similar fashion.
According to Ajith, he wanted to be a driver. However, he had dropped out of school before passing class 8 and therefore was not eligible to apply for transport vehicle licenses. Whenever he took a drink or two, he ended up remembering this unfulfilled dream of his.
The inebriated youth, finds a bus that he can take, drives it for a while and leaves it on the road. As he never takes a bus beyond one stretch of road, there were no complaints. However this last time, he ended up driving till Cuddalore. Ajith Kumar was remanded at the Cuddalore jail. The bus was handed back to Perumal.