Vadodara accident accused’s friend was reluctant to hand him the steering, relented after he insisted: Police

These are some of the details that have emerged, according to police, in the investigation into the accident that caused widespread public outrage after a video of the accused screaming “another round” went viral on social media.

Meanwhile, a Vadodara court on Monday sent Chaurasiya, a 21-year-old law student from M S University, to judicial custody after three days of police remand during which, police said, Chaurasiya “remained uncooperative” and made multiple visits to the SSG hospital for the “injuries” sustained during the crash.

Among several clips of CCTV footage collected from public and private cameras, one is of particular interest to the police. A police officer connected with the probe said Chaurasiya could be seen arriving at the residence of his friend on a two-wheeler; Chauhan arrived later in his car. After spending around 45 minutes at the home of the friend, Chaurasiya and Chauhan left in the same car. In the footage, Chaurasiya is purportedly seen “pushing Chauhan away” from the steering wheel to drive himself.

The police officer told The Indian Express, “In his statement to the police, Chauhan has said that since the car belonged to his father, he was keen on driving it himself. However, when they were leaving the house of the friend, Chaurasiya insisted on driving the car. Chauhan has said that he was reluctant to hand over the steering wheel to Chaurasiya as the latter was a rash driver. Eventually, he gave in because Chaurasiya refused to budge… Chauhan has also said that he had asked Chaurasiya to maintain a controllable speed during the course of the drive…”

Several CCTV videos have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to determine the speed of the car driven by Chaurasiya in the roughly four-kilometer stretch from Gadheda Market area to the spot of the accident.

Uncooperative, wasted time in custody: Police

Officials said Chaurasiya largely remained “uncooperative” during investigation and sought medical attention to “waste time”. A senior officer said, “During the three days in custody, Chaurasiya continued to remain evasive, was restless, twitchy and did not part with important details being a law student himself; he continued to complain of uneasiness time and again, requiring the police to rush him to SSG hospital for treatment. He had a few injuries, mainly from the glass shards of the vehicle…”

During the probe, police learnt that the Karelibaug case is not the only instance of Chaurasiya’s brush with law.

Previous run-ins with the law

On February 19, Chaurasiya and his friends, including Chauhan, allegedly assaulted a lawyer in Fatehgunj area of Vadodara city, after the latter raised an objection to the “nuisance” being caused by a group of boys in a flat in a building where the lawyer owns an office. More recently, Chaurasiya was involved in another incident of rash driving in public. However, no police case was lodged.

The officer, who is part of the investigation, said, “These previous cases have no consequence on the current case but had there been someone who had come forth to firmly lodge a complaint, Chaurasiya could have been deterred, perhaps…”

While the lawyer who was allegedly assaulted in the February 19 case refused to comment on the incident, officials of Sayajigunj police station said Chaurasiya, Chauhan, and their friends allegedly entered the office of the lawyer and assaulted him until a PCR van arrived at the spot on receiving a complaint.

“The complainant chose to settle the matter with Chaurasiya and his friends, who gave a written apology and undertaking… only a station diary entry was made in the name of the boys who live in the flat above the lawyers office…,” Police Inspector Z N Dhasura said.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the family of the deceased Hemali Patel, whose husband is currently on ventilator support at SSG hospital, hired a lawyer to represent them in the case against Chaurasiya.

Advocate Yogesh Rana, appearing for Patel’s family, said, “I have filed my papers to represent the family, along with the prosecution. The family wants maximum punishment for the accused, which can be up to 10 years in this case… It is a heinous crime and so, we will not silently accept any negligence in the case. We will counter the bail applications, whenever they are filed. Meanwhile, negligence occurred on part of the police when Chaurasiya was allowed to interact with the media and give interviews while in police custody.”