6-year-old killed after Class 12 student ploughs car into pedestrians in Lucknow, four injured

He was arrested on Friday and produced in a court which sent him to judicial custody.

The car, which belongs to the father of a friend of Gaurav, has been impounded, police said.

A case has been registered at the Banthara police station under various charges, including rash and negligent driving, and Section 151 (breach of peace) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), Lucknow Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Nipun Agarwal said.

DCP Agarwal said Gaurav possessed a valid driving licence and the vehicle’s fitness documents were found to be in place. The car, however, will be sent for mechanical examination as part of the investigation, he added.

“The driver claimed the accident occurred after one of the car’s tyres burst. The vehicle belongs to his friend’s father. We have detained the driver and seized the car,” said Lucknow Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Rajnish Verma.

Gaurav hails from a business family, police said.

When the incident took place near the Hanuman temple in the Banthara area, Dikshant Patel was walking by the roadside with his mother and grandmother. He suffered a severe head injury and later succumbed during treatment.

Apart from Dikshant’s mother Sadhna (35) and grandmother Meena Devi (60), the injured were identified as Arman (12) and Awadh Bihari (42).

Police found in their preliminary inquiry that the accused had allegedly borrowed his friend’s car to go to the school farewell. Once the farewell event ended, he offered to drop off four of his classmates. The accident occurred while he was on his way to drop the last classmate.

The incident comes close on the heels of the high-profile Kanpur accident, where a Lamborghini car driven allegedly by leading tobacco businessman K K Mishra’s son, Shivam Mishra, rammed into multiple vehicles and injured a pedestrian. On Thursday, Kanpur Police arrested Shivam. He was produced in court and later released on bail.