Doctor’s death in hit and run: Medical student held, police say father tried to shield him

The accused, Mayank, was allegedly driving his father’s Mahindra KUV car at the time. Police said he is a second-year student from the Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Hisar.

On February 20, Dr Rajiv Ranjan (41), a senior resident doctor at a government hospital, and Manish Kumar (39) were on their bike when a vehicle hit them.

Before dying, Kumar told police that he was riding the bike and they were going towards the Metro station when the accused hit them and fled.

Dr Ranjan is survived by his wife Dr Rashmi and their three-year-old child. Kumar is survived by his wife and their two children.

During the initial investigation, police scanned CCTVs in the area but were not able to identify the offending vehicle.

“It was after some time that we were able to map the CCTVs and identify the car number. We found that the car was registered under the name of a firm. The director of the firm said the car was being used by his employee Surender. We interrogated Surender, who tried to mislead us and blame a colleague. He was changing his statements and there were many contradictions in his version. We interrogated him again and it was revealed that Surender’s son Mayank was allegedly the driver,” said an officer.

Police arrested Mayank from his residence and seized the car. They said they plan to take legal action against Surender for allegedly misleading the police.

“We are questioning Mayank,” said the officer.

Kumar’s brother Harish said his brother was a contractual employee and the sole earning member of the family. He demanded justice and compensation for his wife and children.

Earlier, Dr Rashmi told The Indian Express that her husband Dr Ranjan was actively involved in treating patients during the pandemic.

“He was so helpful. He worked during Covid and treated so many patients who are asking after him now,” she said.