Reckless teen driver snuffs out homeless man's life
The accused, Samarth Chugh (18), was accompanied by two of his batch mates, when he lost control and ran the car onto four sleeping pavement dwellers.
20 April 2017 7:07 PM GMT
A Delhi Public School Mathura Road student mowed down a pavement dweller and severely injured three others with his friend's car in Kashmere Gate area on Thursday morning.
The accused, Samarth Chugh (18), was accompanied by two of his batch mates, when he lost control and ran the car onto the sleeping pavement dwellers.
Two of them were dragged for several metres and one of them was brutally crushed under the wheel, resulting in his immediate death.
The police later arrested Chugh and also apprehended the two students accompanying him, identified as Ujwal Goel (18) and Bhavya Rajpal (18), when they tried to flee the spot.
The deceased man has not yet been identified, while the injured have been identified as Asif (30), Karan (26) and Sanjay (28), all of who used to work as labourers.
They were asleep on the pavement near the Kashmere Gate Railway Bridge when the accident took place.
All the injured sustained injuries to their head, back and neck. Karan was discharged from Sushrut Trauma centre; however, Asif and Sanjay are still in a critical condition.
The three students had stayed the night at a friend's place on Wednesday for a group study session for their upcoming board exams.
The following morning, they decided to go to their school and Ujwal Goel decided to take his father's i20 car for the ride.
"Samarth and Bhavya had stayed over at Ujwal's house in Model Town (2). They were going to appear for their final board exam. Around 5 am, Ujwal handed over his car to Samarth and they were on their way to DPS Mathura Road," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North), Jatin Narwal.
Samarth was reportedly driving over the speed limit, when he reached Kashmere Gate underpass, where at least six pavement dwellers were sleeping.
While negotiating a right turn, Samarth lost control of the car and climbed onto the five-foot wide footpath and ran over the four victims.
Even as the car descended the footpath, two of the homeless men were still stuck under the wheels of the car.
They were dragged along with the car for several metres, before it came to a halt.
"The car came out of nowhere and hit us. We were all sleeping on the pavement," said Sanjay, one of the victims.
Ujwal and Bhavya got out of the car and fled, while Samarth tried to negotiate his way out of the underpass.
One of the victims, however, was still stuck under the wheels of the car, and the grinding motions of the wheel crushed his jaw, killing him in the process.
After he was arrested, it came to light that Samarth did not have a license when he was driving the car, which belonged to Ujwal's father, Raj Kumar.
The police have registered a case under sections 279, 337 and 304 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The investigators are now trying to ascertain if Raj Kumar had willingly handed over the car to the students.
Further medical tests are also being conducted to determine whether Samarth was drunk at the time of the accident.
Early morning merriment goes horribly wrong for trio
15 days ago, Samarth Chugh and his friends Bhavya Rajpal and Ujwal Goel had patched up after a bitter fight.
The three commerce students had to appear for their Entrepreneurship exam, the final paper before the long awaited holidays.
After Ujwal managed to get his father's Silver Hyundai i20 car, the three sneaked out of his house early in the morning and to make a Snapchat story.
The boys wanted to document their trip and take photographs in front of the school and share it with their friends.
30 minutes after they left Model Town, Samarth was at the wheels of the car and two homeless people came under it.
His friends deserted him and fled the car, while a confused Samarth tried to reverse the car, crushing the man's jaw and killing him in the process.
"He just stood shocked and could not move from the spot. His friends had left him while he looked on. He was still in a state of shock when the police finally managed to apprehend him," said a highly placed police source.
At Kashmere Gate police station, the relatives of Ujwal and Bhavya had gathered.They told Millennium Post that the boys had informed the family before taking the car and had run over the pavement dwellers because of a punctured tyre.
"They used to have a routine wherein they would study late in the night and then go out in the morning for a ride. They would usually visit a local Gurudwara to have their breakfast and would return by 8 am," said a relative.
However, students who knew Samarth have told Millennium Post that the trio would sneak out regularly and were on their way to school for a Snapchat story.
"They had all left to make a snap chat story. They wanted to take pictures in front of the school early in the morning and had planned to upload them," said Vishal (name changed), a student of DPS Mathura Road.
To further complicate the case, Samarth has claimed that he had medical problems and used to have fits.
Even Vishal testified to the fact that Samarth would often have fits.
However, it is still not clear as to why he was allowed to drive the car despite his alleged medical condition.
"He informed us about his medical condition the minute we arrested him. We have to undertake a medical test to verify his claims," said DCP (North), Jatin Narwal.
Next Story
