A 32-year-old business executive died after he was hit by a speeding Mercedes car near his residence in North Delhi’s Civil Lines area on Monday night. The victim, Sidhartha Sharma, was crossing the road after he took food from a nearby eatery when the luxury car hit him. Such was the impact that after being hit, Sharma was flung into air and fell 15 metre away from the spot. Police have registered a case of rash and negligent driving causing death against the driver at Civil Lines police station.
According to the police, the incident took place at around 8.45 pm on Monday when Sharma was returning from his college in Lajpat Nagar in a shared cab with a classmate. While he was crossing the road near the Ludlow Castle School, a speeding Mercedes hit him.
Sidhartha is survived by his parents and an elder sister.
Divay, Sidhartha’s friend recalled: “I got a call at around 10.30 pm that Sidhartha got injured in a road accident. By 11.15 pm, when I reached with other friends at the Sant Parmanand Hospital, he died. The accident was so terrible that doctors informed us that his legs, chest and his head were severely smashed.”
“Eyewitnesses told us that he (Sidhartha Sharma) was flung several feet into the air and landed at least 15 metres away and was grievously injured. Eight people in the age group of 15-18 were present in the car. A child was also seen by the locals,” said Divay.
A senior police official said that due to the impact of the accident, a tyre of the car burst and it stopped after a sharp drift on the road. The accused, whom the police say is a juvenile, fled from the scene leaving the car behind. The police were also told that two bikers (five people) had a narrow escape from the car seconds before it knocked down Sharma. To warn the car from speeding, they followed it till the accident happened. “We have impounded the car and sent notice to the owner of the car. We are scanning through the CCTV footage of the spot where the accident took place. 4 to 5 people have been spotted in the footage,” said a senior police official. Meanwhile, police have tracked the owner, a businessman, Manoj Aggarwal who resides in Civil Lines area.
From preliminary investigation, it appears that he was not the one driving the car last evening, said the official. A case of rash driving and causing death by negligence has been registered at Civil Lines police station. However, the police said that the juvenile driver will be apprehended soon.