Ambassador driver was not drunk

Taxi driver Bhupinder Singh, who turned in from the Ambala higway on the Sector 37-38 road, was trying to overtake another vehicle at the time of the accident. The police who interrogated the driver, said that the driver8217;a eyes were dazzled by lights of a Maruti car coming from the opposite direction and that is how he could not see the scooter in time and even after the car had rammed into the scooter, had failed to apply the brakes.

The scooter was dragged for at least four feet because of this and friction between the scooter and the road produced a spark which lighted the leaking oil, according to the driver. Those living in the neighbourhood saw the flames and called the fire brigade and the police. quot;The man was writhing in pain, burnt all over his body and screaming. The little boy was still alive and ceased to move within five minutes,quot; said a female witness.

While the car also caught fire, the driver, Bhupinder Singh, managed to escape. He was arrested yesterday by the police and is now on bail. The other passenger in the car, Parminder Singh, was discharged after being given first aid.

Mustafa, who perished in the accident, was a house-painter. He lived with his family and other relatives in the Janata Colony.