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Greater Kailash hit-and-run: Law student arrested, told police he got ‘distracted while driving’
Police said the teen’s mother, Niharika Chadha, has also been arrested for allegedly trying to hide evidence and harbouring her son
The deceased was identified as Surendra Das, a resident of Greater Kailash I, who was working as a domestic help and cook in the area.
A 19-year-old law student has been arrested for allegedly mowing down a house help and fleeing in South Delhi’s upscale Greater Kailash last month. Police officers said the youth, Ruhaan Chadha, claimed he was “talking to his woman friend” who was seated in the passenger seat and got distracted while driving.
Police said the teen’s mother, Niharika Chadha, has also been arrested for allegedly trying to hide evidence and harbouring her son. She claimed her husband passed away recently and that’s why Ruhaan was ‘depressed’ and distracted, a senior police officer said.
Mother and son were arrested on Tuesday.
The incident took place on March 31. A 41-year-old house help was hit by a Maruti Ciaz while he was on his bike in GK’s Block B, going back home after buying milk.
The deceased was identified as Surendra Das, a resident of Greater Kailash I, who was working as a domestic help and cook in the area.
Ruhaan, a first-year law student, and Niharika, who runs a boutique from her house, are both residents of GK, police officers said. Officers said the car was registered under the name of Niharika.
The car was seized; it showed signs of some ‘repair’ work done on its front part to allegedly hide the impact of the accident, police officers said.
“The youth went to his mother immediately after the incident and told her everything. She then allegedly tried to get the car fixed and harboured her son for a week despite knowing about the accident,” DCP (South) Anant Mittal said.
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Tracking the accused
When police scanned CCTV footage from the area, they spotted the car but could only see four digits of the number plate. Cameras from nearby areas showed that post the accident, the driver rushed to exit GK Block B through its main gate and went towards Kailash Colony Metro station. He then turned the vehicle, and went back home.
“Cars which had registration plates with those four numbers were tracked down. All owners were questioned. We then found that one of these cars was located in the Zamrudpur area. It was found that it had been stationed there for some days. We then traced the owner using its number plate, and arrested the accused from their home,” a police officer said.
A police officer said Ruhaan had got his driving licence in January this year, and claimed he ‘panicked’ after someone in the locality saw him with his female friend.
A case has been registered under BNS sections 106 (death by negligence) and 281 (rash driving) against Ruhaan and under BNS sections 238 (removing evidence) and 249 (harbouring offender) against Niharika at GK police station.
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“We couldn’t verify if he was driving under influence as he was caught a week after the incident happened. Further investigation is underway,” a police officer said.
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