Speeding car mows down four men in South Delhi

The four deceased were identified as Vikas (25),Lal Babu (26),Abhinanda (16) and Jogender (21); while the injured were identified as Man Shekhar (23),Lallan (18),Shailesh (35) and Pinky (23) — all migrants.

Police said the car — DL3C BE 4414 — was on its way from INA to Nizamuddin. “There were three people in the car at the time of the accident. The driver,Shahid Khan,is absconding. The others were handed over to the police by locals,” police said.

One of the arrested has been identified as Alam Khan while the other is a minor,both Shahid’s cousins. “We have released the minor,but Alam has been being detained and is being questioned,” said H G S Dhaliwal,Deputy Commissioner of Police,South Delhi.

Dhaliwal said Shahid fled the spot after the accident. “We have lodged a case under Sections 304A and 279 at the Lodhi Colony police station,” Dhaliwal added.

According to reports,at 9 pm on Sunday,Shahid called his cousins for a drive. They drove to Gurgaon in Alam’s Santro to buy liquor. “When they met,they were already drunk. They bought five more bottles of beer from Gurgaon,which they reportedly consumed,” police said.

They returned home,met Shahid’s uncle Imran and went to a farmhouse in Chattarpur. Sometime after midnight,Shahid said he was hungry,and the three of them reportedly left in his uncle’s car for Nizamuddin. The car is registered in the name of New Metal Copper Works in Sadar Bazaar and belongs to Shahid’s uncle Imran.

Bottles of beer were spotted inside the car,which was parked at the police station. “We have called in the FSL forensics team from Rohini to take the samples,” said Dhaliwal. Police said blood samples of Alam were taken to ascertain if he was inebriated.

“The labourers were working near the central verge and had placed material on the road. The driver could not see the barricade and hit the men working there,” police said.

A worker,Ranjan,said: “The car came flying towards the barricade. Before the workers could see it,it rammed into them. It then hit nine others and came to a halt after hitting a tractor.”

“The first patient was brought in at 1.37 am by the police. Within half-an-hour,five more patients were admitted. Three were declared dead,while the other three had received severe injuries on their legs,” said Nirmal Thakur,Media Co-ordinator at Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre,AIIMS.

“All of them are stable now. One of them is to be operated on. Except for one of the deceased,the rest are from Bihar,” said Dr Sanjeev Bhoi.

Thakur said: “Neither the contractor nor the civic agency has taken responsibility for their treatment.”

Shahid’s father,Isab,is a well-known property dealer in Mewar,Rajasthan. Shahid is said to be pursuing MBBS from Russia. The other two accused are from Mehrauli.

A few minutes before the accident,an Innova had rammed into the board at the same spot,said an eyewitness. No one was hurt. The Innova was also kept parked at the site.