Man held for mowing down live-in partner, injuring her daughters

New Delhi: Investigation into a road accident that took place on Tuesday in Dwarka Sector-16A, where a truck mowed down a woman and injured her two daughters, has revealed that the truck driver was in a live-in relationship with the victim and deliberately ran her over.

Police on Friday said that accused Akhilesh Pal (32) was arrested from Dwarka Mor late Thursday night while trying to flee to his native village in Bihar. Two mobile phones and Rs 25,110 in cash were recovered from him, he added.

Cops claimed that on the intervening night of November 19 and 20, Pal had a drunken fight with the victim Vibha (name changed) – a mother of three girls – after which he took off in his truck with Vibha's 18-month-old daughter.

A while later, Vibha and her 17-year-old daughter Sunita (name changed) found Pal sleeping in his truck on the road in Dwarka Sector-16A. Vibha took the toddler with her and moments later Pal woke up and saw her walking away with her two daughters.

Enraged, he started the truck to chase Vibha and the girls, and struck them. Passersby saw the accident and tried to nab Pal, but he managed to flee, leaving the truck behind.

At around 1.30 am Tuesday, a PCR call was received at Dwarka North police station about a truck bearing a Haryana registration hitting some women at JJ Colony in Dwarka Sector-16A. "An eyewitness chased the truck till Dwarka Metro station, where the driver abandoned the truck and fled on foot. The eyewitness made the PCR call," said a police officer.

After verification, police identified Pal to be the owner and driver of the truck.

When cops went to take Sunita's statement, it came to light that she had no idea that Pal had struck them with his truck. She told cops that when Vibha saw the truck coming from behind, she pushed away Sunita and her toddler sister to save them.

Sunita further told cops that Pal, who lived in the same house with her family, had a quarrel with her mother a few hours earlier.

During investigation, cops found that Pal, who worked as a truck driver for brick kilns, had come into contact with Vibha a few years ago through her estranged husband. Over time, he and Vibha grew intimate and soon they started living together, along with her daughters. "Vibha, who was six years older than Pal, thought he was having an affair with another woman. The two often had fierce fights on this issue or other," said the police officer.