The number plate of Purcle. (Bishwarup Dutta)

A car bearing the sticker “Toyota Islamabad” was seen parked on JL Nehru Road in the Esplanade area for 17 hours, triggering panic among hawkers who alerted police on Sunday afternoon.

The registration number of the Toyota Land Cruiser, beginning with an “L”, prompted speculations about the car being from Lahore.

The cops, however, later identified the owner as Alexander Henry Purcle, a Briton who has set out on a world tour. The banker, who has put up in a Sudder Street hotel, told the sleuths that he had entered India on October 20, 2009, from Pakistan through the Wagah border. After touring north and east India he went to Nepal, from where he came to Calcutta via Darjeeling on Saturday evening.

“Since Sudder Street was one-way, I parked the car in front of Bible Society. I know India is a safe country,” an officer quoted Purcle as saying. The car, returned to Purcle, has been registered with the London transport department.