I may have the same problem here. I brought my car to a shop, and the mechanic discovered I had a pedalbox issue. In the meantime, he also decided to detach the negative cable from the battery. After installing the new pedal box, I discovered that when I try to connect the negative cable, the car starts cranking, without the keys.
Is it in the ignition? I doubt he touched anything else on the car except detaching the cable. I would also be interested in the column.