Picture this. Your boss buys a shiny new G30 520d, then three days later has you drop him off at the airport. You've got the keys, the owner's out of the country — you're not about to drive straight home as you were asked, are you? He's not going to know if you take it for a little spin. Nothing could possibly go wrong.

Unfortunately for Mumbai's Mehboob Alam, a night that looked like the safest joyriding opportunity in human history ended with him being beaten up by an angry mob and thrown in a prison cell. Oh, and we're pretty sure he's out of a job, too.

Mumbai: Man driving a BMW, in inebriated condition, hit multiple vehicles between Reay Road area & Kidwai Road last night. Police say 'We caught him after chasing for 4 km. He's a driver, the owner left for Dubai y'day. 2 injured have been taken to hospital. Action will be taken' pic.twitter.com/moKsy17heZ

— ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2018

It's probably fair to say the first rule of driving other people's cars is "definitely don't be drunk". Apparently Alam didn't get that memo; the police found liquor bottles in the car, and suspect the driver had been drinking after leaving the airport.

The second rule might be something like "don't crash into any children". Another swing and miss for Alam. Trying to make a quick getaway after narrowly missing a motorcyclist, our joyrider managed to hit a stationary motorbike being ridden by the Shaikh brothers, with 10-year-old Mohammed Yunus on the back. As you do when you've got a kid on the back of your bike, the older Shaikh gave chase.

It was at this point that things went from bad to worse for Alam. You know how it is. You get one person chasing you and all of a sudden everybody wants to join in. Before long, up to 15 motorbikes had joined the pursuit, chasing Alam two miles across town.

What exactly happened when they caught up with him isn't all that clear. We know he was attacked (or thrashed, as one Indian paper so beautifully put it), and that the mob also somehow damaged the car. Alam apparently hit plenty of vehicles before blowing his front-right tire, which might explain some of the damage to the bumper, but the smashed windscreen looks like it must have happened after the chase was over. Passions run high in Mumbai, it seems.

There's no word yet on whether the car's owner is enjoying his holiday as much as he might have hoped.