Vaibhab Mahto at MGM hospital in Jamshedpur on Thursday. (Animesh Sengupta)
Two college students from Jamshedpur were killed when the stolen car they were travelling in careened off NH-33 and hit a pole in Chandil, 30km from the steel city, in the small hours of Thursday.
A third student was seriously injured in the accident, which took place near Tata Down. Police say the boys, all in their early twenties, were drunk and had lost control of the car, which was lifted from Sonari on January 5.
The deceased - identified as Prashant Singh and Niraj Bhardwaj - were residents of Sonari. Injured Vaibhab Mahto, who is admitted to MGM Medical College and Hospital in Sakchi, in fact, lives in Adarshnagar Phase IV from where the car was stolen three days ago.
Basic description and engine details of the vehicle, whose number plate had been changed, showed that it belonged to one Shishir Kumar Jha.
Sonari OC Animesh Gupta said they received information about the accident from Chandil police. 'It seems the trio had driven the stolen car to Ranchi. They met with the accident on their return journey. It is a case of drink driving,' the officer said.
Police, who identified the three with the help of their cellphone details, said Sonari's Pardesipara resident Prashant was a third-year BCom student at a city college. Niraj, who lived at Shatabdi Tower, was in second-year BCom at a college in Nagpur, while Vaibhab studies in a college in Calcutta.
According to sources in Chandil, the car was found in a ditch near Tata Down around 6.30am. All three young men had suffered head injuries. Chandil inspector Rajiv Kumar Singh said the trio were rushed to MGM, where two were declared brought dead.
Vaibhab told police that Niraj had brought the car and was driving it after having changed the number plate. 'I do not know from which place he brought the car. We all went to Ranchi and were returning to Sonari when the car hit a pole in Chandil,' he said.
In another mishap on Wednesday night, two persons were killed when their car overturned on Kandra-Chowka road in Seraikela-Kharsawan. Jay Mandal (30) and nephew Dinu (30) were residents of Adityapur.
