Drunk cabbie found dead in car

A 34-year-old driver was found dead in a luxury car operated by a private tour operator here on Tuesday afternoon.

A Toyota Innova car registered as a tourist taxi was missing since Monday and the driver could not be reached by the owner of the vehicle, Dayanidhi(22), of Anna Nagar. The driver, Manikandan, (34), of Sembanar Koil in Nagapattinam, had joined Dayanidhi’s fleet a month ago and was driving a car that was being operated for another travel company in Alandur.

Manikandan, who took the car out on Monday morning to report for duty in Alandur, did not reach office on time. Repeated attempts to reach him over the mobile phone failed and a complaint was filed with the Anna Nagar Police. Meanwhile, Dayanidhi received information through his friend that his car was spotted near PSB Mini Hall on 18th Main Road in Anna Nagar.

He rushed to the spot and found Manikandan lying on the back seat. Attempts to wake him up failed. Dayanidhi opened the car with a spare key and found the driver dead. The information was passed on to Thirumangalam Police and Inspector Sivakumar rushed to the spot. The body was then sent to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital for post mortem.

Police suspected that the driver could have consumed excessive liquor on Monday which could have resulted in his death.

A strong smell of alcohol emanated from the vehicle when the body was removed from the car. The actual cause of death could be ascertained only after post mortem on Wednesday, the police said. A case under Section 174 of CrPC was registered and further investigations were on.