Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi

The night of July 24 was a heady one for Prakash. Usually quiet and someone who keeps to himself, Prakash was quite drunk when he walked into the Neeti Bagh bungalow of senior Congress leader and lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi where he was employed as a servant and dog-walker.

Prakash used to walk Aslan, Singhvi's Anatolian Shepherd, and the big dog was quite attached to his walker. So much so that Prakash was rehired about two months ago.

Prakash asked the security guard for the keys to his owner's Innova car on the pretext that he had forgotten his bag in it. The next thing the guard knew was that Prakash and the Innova were gone in 60 seconds. With it went the official Parliament-issued cellphone of the Congress leader.

Many hours later, the car met with an accident with a BMW in South Extension Part II. While Prakash fled the scene, a police head constable and the owner of the BMW car went to meet the Innova's owner to investigate the case and seek compensation. They were taken aback when they came face to face with senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

"Prakash looks after the family dog. He was under the influence of undesirable friends and liquor that day. He stole the car and has been missing since. My phone is also missing," Singhvi told Mail Today. The Congress leader also informed Parliament about the missing cellphone, the service to which has since been disconnected.

An officer of the South District told Mail Today that the theft came to light on July 25 when head constable Shamsher turned up at the Singhvi residence at 4:30 am and informed them about the accident.

"Singhvi told the police that Prakash had come back drunk from a birthday party in Mehrauli and had taken the car with him. Singhvi said they had already informed the police," the officer said, adding that the Congress leader also informed Parliament about the theft of the mobile phone.

"Prakash was on leave on the evening on July 24. He has never been employed as a driver and has not been authorised to drive our car," Singhvi said.

The residence of Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi in the Capital. The residence of Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi in the Capital.

Singhvi also told the police that the Nokia phone issued by the Parliament to the Congress leader was mostly used by his secretary Tej Prakash, who leaves the phone at Singhvi's house when he leaves for the day. He added that the phone is usually charged in the kitchen, where Prakash sleeps, and he probably stole the phone from there.Singhvi, from the time he was alerted by his guard at around 2 am, had been calling 100 to register a car theft compliant.

"The owner of a BMW car, Karan Batra, accompanied head Constable Shamsher to Singhvi's residence. Batra had initially thought of claiming damages from the car's owner but chose not to do so once he got to know who the owner is and that the car had been stolen by the house help," the police officer added.

Singhvi told Mail Today that they have registered a case of theft at Hauz Khas police station.

Meanwhile, the badly-damaged car has since then been lifted from the accident spot and forensic experts are examining the vehicle. Several teams of South district police have been formed to nab the absconding help.