26 seconds that killed Munde

The sudden cardiac arrest after the road accident of Union rural development minister Gopinath Munde has left several unanswered questions on the cause of his death. However, the driver who hit his car while Munde was on his way to the airport has been arrested but was later released on bail.

Different versions by the accused and victim driver has created loopholes in the investigation. 

The accused driver, Gurvinder Singh, whose Indica car dashed into Munde’s SX4 at Aurobindo Marg crossing, made a call to the police control room at 6.45 am, and said that a red beacon car had hit his car and fled the spot.

After the collision, Munde’s driver and PSO got down and indulged in few seconds of argument with the driver of the Indica. Further, the PSO helped Munde to sit up at the seat.

‘Munde then sought water from the PSO who gave him water to drink.  No major injury marks were seen on Munde’s body but he was sweating hard. The minister then instructed the driver to take him to AIIMS. Before they could reach AIIMS, he lost his consciousness,’ a police official said quoting the statement given by Munde’s driver.

Due to forceful collision, radiator of Singh’s car became non-functional and he made a call to the police. After coming to know that he had hit Munde’s car, the driver was detained. 

He has been booked under Sections 304 (A) (rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide) and 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) of the Indian Penal Code. He was, however, released on bail after being produced at Patiala House court in the afternoon.

Later, Munde’s driver was interrogated to establish the exact sequence of the crime. 

‘He told the police that when he was crossing the red light signal, 26 seconds of green signal were remaining. He was driving at a speed of 40-45 kms/hr. When he almost crossed two-thirds of the redlight signal, a speeding car dashed into his vehicle,’ SBS Tyadi, additional commissioner of police (New Delhi) said quoting the statement given by Munde’s driver. 

Unfortunately, no CCTV cameras were present near the crime scene. ‘If required we will recreate the sequence of crime,’ Tyagi added.

Singh (32), a resident of Sultanpur near Mehrauli is a native of Punjab’s Hoshiarpur and lives with 

his younger brother in a rented accommodation. He recently bought a second hand Indica car. 

Earlier, there were reports that the errant driver worked for a posh city hotel but the hotel authorities claimed that they are in no way connected with the errant driver.