Bengaluru: A 23-year-old site engineer, his female friend and staffers of a fuel station had a close shave when the engineer’s Jaguar rammed into a fuel dispenser and caused a massive fire at Attibele in Bengaluru Urban district late Wednesday night.The Jaguar was completely gutted in the fire while two fuel dispensers and some portion of the fuel station were burnt in the accident.According to police, engineer M Sanjay of Meenakshi Layout in Parappana Agrahara had purchased a Jaguar from a used car dealer for Rs 26 lakh 10 months back. “It was my dream to own a Jaguar,” he told cops.However, the trouble began when Sanjay drove his Jaguar into ‘Varasiddi filling station’ near Attibele toll plaza around 11 pm.“As the staffers requested him to take the middle lane, he reversed negligently and hit a staffer, Guddu Kumar. A panicked Sanjay pressed the accelerator hard and then rammed into one of the fuel dispensers. As fire broke out, Sanjay and his friend got out of the car and ran for safety. Guddu Kumar sustained burns on his legs and is undergoing treatment,” an investigating officer said.Three fire tenders were pressed into service and they doused the fire after around one hour. “Fortunately, the fire did not extend to underground tanks, with petrol and diesel in them. Had that happened, the entire fuel station would have blown up,” he said.The fuel station staffers and other commuters held Sanjay and handed him over to police. Sanjay told police that a technical snag resulted in the accident.On Thursday, the fuel station owner, Hemant V, filed a police complaint against Sanjay, accusing him of driving the vehicle under the influence of alcohol. “Before his complaint, we had subjected Sanjay to an alcohol test. However, the report, which came later, was negative,” an officer said.Sanjay was booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 326 (mischief by injury, inundation, fire or explosive substance, etc) and 125 (rash or negligent act that endangers human life or the personal safety of others).
