Father sent to 1-day police custody

Delhi Police have also reportedly confiscated the passport of the accused juvenile till the trial gets over in order to make sure that he does not flee the country.

On the other hand, the cops have allegedly found a fake identity card of a prominent Delhi University college from the juvenile’s possession. They are verifying if the accused juvenile is an adult and if the papers highlighting him as a juvenile are fake, sources added.

On Friday, the juvenile’s father was arrested under Sections 304 (culpable homicide) and 190 of the Indian Penal Code. “Manoj Aggarwal has been arrested for abetting the crime of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and now he has been prohibited to take the vehicle,” said DCP Madhur Verma.

Challaned four times in the past one year, the juvenile is a repeat offender. Last year, the minor was also challaned thrice, for over-speeding in April and June and wrong parking in February. “In view of these facts, the death of Siddharth Sharma is a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and, hence, Section 304 of IPC has been added in the FIR,” said Verma.

There was also an accident case against him registered at Maurice Nagar police station where the name of the person who suffered injuries is Varun, said sources.

The incident took place on Monday when Sharma was trying to cross a road near Ludlow Castle School in Civil Lines and the speeding Mercedes hit him. The car was being driven at a speed of at least 80 km per hour and Sharma was flung several feet into the air by the impact of the crash and landed around 15 metres away from where he stood. After the incident, a group of youth stepped out of the vehicle and fled the spot, abandoning the car there.

It is evident from the CCTV footage released by Sidhartha’s family that the car was being driven recklessly. A senior police official said that the accident was so brutal that Sharma fell 15 metres away from the vehicle. The impact of the accident was such that a tyre of the car had burst and it stopped after a sharp drift on the road.

Taken to Sant Parmanand Hospital, Sidhartha succumbed to death due to multiple fractures, said a relative of Sidhartha. Passers-by informed the cops that the Mercedes car was being driven at a speed of at least 80 km per hour. After the accident, the accused fled the scene, leaving the vehicle behind. The police were also told that two bikers (five people) had a narrow escape from the car seconds before it knocked down Sharma.

Meanwhile, the eye-witnesses also told police that all the occupants of the car including the juvenile who was behind the wheel were allegedly under the influence of alcohol. 

Initially, the accused’s father — Manoj Aggarwal — intentionally wasted precious time of the cops repeatedly by stressing on the point that it was his driver who was behind the wheels. 

Later, the “dummy” driver confessed that Aggarwal had forced him to take the blame on himself to save his son who is the main accused.  

The last time Delhi Police booked someone under culpable homicide in such a matter was in the Sanjeev Nanda BMW case 17 years ago, a senior official said. On January 10, 1999, six persons, including three policemen, were killed by a speeding BMW car allegedly driven by Nanda in the wee hours in South Delhi’s Lodhi Colony area.