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Panchkula market crash: 18-yr-old behind the wheel of SUV that killed 2 arrested
According to Panchkula police, the accused had dropped out from school after completing Class 9 and was previously employed at a veterinary hospital
An 18-year-old boy was behind the wheel of the SUV that crashed into a chemist shop near Majri Chowk, Sector 2, on Thursday, claiming the lives of a 86-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy, police confirmed on Friday.
Acting swiftly, police arrested the youth, identified as Shiva, a resident of Khark Mangoli, Panchkula, within 24 hours of the tragic crash.
Suspecting that he could be under the influence of alcohol when driving the Mahindra TUV 300, police took him for medical examination, with the report still awaited. But investigators confirmed that he did not possess a valid driving licence.
According to the investigating officer, the accused had dropped out from school after completing Class 9 and was previously employed at a veterinary hospital.
He told the police that he and his friends, including the car owner from Ramgarh village, first visited the Manimajra motor market with the plan of buying a car, before arriving at the location where the incident occurred.
Currently jobless, Shiva said while his friends went to the market to buy some snacks, he moved into the driver’s seat to turn on air conditioning. While working the AC switch, he claimed, his foot inadvertently slipped onto the accelerator, causing the vehicle to plough into the shop.
He has been booked under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Sector 5 police station and is scheduled to be presented in a local court on Saturday.
IPS dreams cut short by tragedy
Police revealed that the 17-year-old victim of the crash, Navjot Singh, aspired to become an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer. The teenager faced numerous hardships in his young life, having lost his mother, a teacher by profession around six years ago, and his father as well four years back. An only child, he had been living with his maternal grandfather, Pohu Lal, 70, in Kalyanpur village, Nalagarh, Himachal Pradesh.
Having also sustained injuries in the mishap, Lal could not attend his grandson’s last rites on Friday evening, completed by his relatives.
The duo, along with the teen’s maternal uncles, were en route to Pehowa in Kurukshetra for “pind daan” of a relative and had stopped for refreshments at the market, when tragedy struck.
Both uncles, Gurmeet Singh and Mohinder Singh, also suffered injuries and were also under treatment at the Sector-6 civil hospital on Friday.
Devastating loss of a father figure
Daulat Ram Goyal, aged 86 and the second victim of the mishap, was a registered medical practitioner (RMP), who had ceased his practice a few years ago due to health issues, according to his son Rakesh Goyal, who owns and runs the chemist shop.
Despite his age, Daulat Ram remained socially active and would frequently visit his son’s chemist shop. On the fateful day of the accident, he was present at the shop while Rakesh was away for lunch when the SUV crashed into it, leading to his tragic death.
The impact of the collision left his leg severed and he succumbed to injuries while being rushed to the hospital. A day later, the victims’ families remained inconsolable, struggling to come to terms with their losses.
