IAF officer killed in Kolkata: Ex-MLA’s younger son arrested

The police also confirmed Sambia was driving the Audi that crashed through three guard rails before knocking down 21-year-old IAF officer Corporal Abhimanyu Gaud Wednesday.

People pay tribute to IAF corporal Abhimanyu Gaud (inset) in Surat on Thursday night.
Hanif Malek

In a late night development, Kolkata Police Saturday arrested the main accused in a hit-and-run case in which an IAF officer leading a Republic Day parade rehearsal was killed after being knocked down by a speeding car. Police arrested Sambia Sohrab, the younger son of former RJD MLA Mohammed Sohrab, from Beck Bagan area of the city.

The police also confirmed Sambia was driving the Audi that crashed through three guard rails before knocking down 21-year-old IAF officer Corporal Abhimanyu Gaud Wednesday.

With Sohrab and his sons Ambia and Sambia absconding after the incident, the Kolkata Police had sent out teams to different parts of the state and Bihar to trace the trio. A senior police officer said they traced Sambia’s location using the cellphone towers after he received a phone call from his elder brother’s friend. “His elder brother’s friend called him and asked him to change his number and use a different location. Right now, we’re interrogating Sambia and we will soon be able to track the other accused,” said police.

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The officer said, soon after the accident Sambia left the car near Fort William and took a taxi to Jorashanko, where he met his father and elder brother. “After the accident, he had met his family and they helped him hide in a house in Beck Bagan in Central Kolkata from where he was arrested at 11.15 pm today,” the officer said, adding they had frozen the bank accounts of the Sohrabs making it impossible for them to leave the city.

He said a case under IPC section 302 (murder) has been lodged against Sambia. Sohrab and Ambia are still absconding.

Earlier in the day, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Debasish Boral had said it was “more or less confirmed that Sambia was driving the car”. The police initially suspected Sohrab’s elder son of driving the Audi. Boral said police raided over 30 places in the city, including hotels owned by the Sohrabs, before finally being able to track Sambia.

The police said they were optimistic that Sambia’s arrests would not only aid in tracking the other two accused, but also clear doubts regarding the number of passengers in the vehicle at the time of the accident. While the police had said there were multiple individuals in the car, the witnesses had reportedly claimed that there was only a driver in the car. “It is still being verified. Witnesses are confused as the car was moving very fast. We will also try and ascertain whether he was driving under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident,” said the police.

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Kolkata Police and the Indian Air Force are in “constant touch” with each other regarding the developments in the probe, he added.

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