A day after newspaper hawker Balbir Singh Rana died in a road accident, police arrested a final year law student, Manvinder Singh Friday; he was charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Police said Manvinder was returning from a nightclub at around 4.45 am when he hit the victim’s scooter and dragged his body for 45 metres. Manvinder, a student of BML Munjal University in Gurgaon, had ditched his SUV at the spot of the accident at Sector 17/18 light point Thursday morning. Police said the CCTV footage capturing the accident revealed that the car did not appear to slow down even after hitting Rana. Police have not ruled out the possibility of drink driving and have collected blood and urine samples of the accused for further examination. “Manvinder Singh had escaped from the spot after the road accident. He did not even apply the brake. His SUV stopped after being damaged in the accident. He was coming from a nightclub when the incident took place. Earlier, we registered a case for death due to negligent driving. Now we have added the stringent charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against him”, Station House Officer of Sector 17 police station, Inspector Om Parkash, said. Manvinder Singh was also injured in the accident. Rana was going to receive the supply of newspapers from his house in village Kishangarh before the accident; he was rushed to GMSH-16 in a police vehicle but the doctors had declared him dead. A case was registered at Sector 17 police station. The victim left behind his wife and two children – a boy and one girl. The accident raises concerns about nightclub timings: The early morning road accident has raised concerns regarding the closing time of nightclubs. A police officer requesting anonymity said, “After the UT administration allowed nightclubs and bars to be open till 3 am, the city roads have become vulnerable to road accidents. Vegetable vendors, newspaper hawkers and milkmen who usually leave their houses during early morning hours are the most vulnerable, especially on weekends.”
