Tuli’s son held, released on bail

NAGPUR, APRIL 14: In a swift move, the Dhantoli police on Thursday arrested local businessman Dalbir Singh Tuli's 19-year-old son Gaurav, ...

NAGPUR, APRIL 14: In a swift move, the Dhantoli police on Thursday arrested local businessman Dalbir Singh Tuli’s 19-year-old son Gaurav, on suspicion of driving the Tata Safari that killed well-known Sanskrit scholar Pradnyabharti Dr S B Varnekar in a hit-and-run mishap at Kachhipura square in Ramdaspeth on Sunday. Gaurav was later released on bail.

Coming as it does three days after the tragic incident, the delay is being attributed by the police to the absence of any eyewitness coming forward to corroborate, in a substantive manner, the events leading to the mishap.

"We have arrested him (Gaurav) on suspicion although no witness has come forward to corroborate facts," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone I) Sanjay Kumar said while talking to The Indian Express. He added that the offence registered in the case was bailable.

Gaurav was arrested from his Byramji Town residence around 8 a.m. and brought to the Dhantoli police station. After completing the formalities, he was released on bail around 1:30 p.m. by Dhantoli PSO Inspector Ramesh Pawade.

When asked whether this could have been done before too, Pawade said that the police had little option but to verify facts, considering the circumstances in which the accident occurred.

Even the driver of the Maruti van carrying Dr Varnekar did not appear to be sure whether it was Gaurav or some other person though he has consistently maintained that a ‘turbaned sardar’ was at the wheel of the Safari, Pawade claimed.