E-Paper
Thar rampage at Ludhiana’s Chaura Bazar: Driver who fled the spot booked for rash driving
Ludhiana police had earlier said that no case had been registered against the driver as victims and accused had reached a compromise
Two days after a speeding Thar went on a rampage in the crowded Chaura Bazar market leaving three persons injured and damaging four two-wheelers and material worth lakhs, police have booked the 24-year-old driver in a case of rash driving.
The accused, identified as Abhishek Kumar, is a resident of Daresi and manages a liquor store owned by his family. He had fled the spot, leaving the motor vehicle behind after the accident.
The complainant in the case, Amarjit Mukhija who owns a readymade garments shop in the market, said the accused was driving the car in a rash manner and hit their employee and two other persons and damaged material worth ₹2.5 lakh.
He added that 13 mannequins and several clothes that were put on display outside the shop were damaged, along with the glass door of his shop.
Victims undergoing treatment
Another victim, Varun Arora, who works as a salesman at the aforementioned store, was rushed to a hospital near the spot of the incident and is undergoing treatment. The other two persons who had been injured had at the time been identified as Sharanjeet Singh of Focal Point and Maninder Singh of Bholapur Chabewal. Both had come to market for shopping and suffered fractures. They were reported to be in a stable condition.
The incident had been captured on the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed outside the shops and was widely circulated on social media. In the footage, the vehicle can be purportedly seen dragging the victims, two-wheelers parked on the roadside before hitting an electricity pole.
Police had on Tuesday said no case had been registered against the driver as the victims and the accused had reached a compromise.
Speaking of the same, commissioner of police Mandeep Sidhu had said the driver will be challaned for rash and negligent driving. However, a first information report (FIR) was registered on Wednesday following a complaint by the shopkeeper.
The accused, meanwhile, had at the time claimed that he lost control of the vehicle after accidentally pressing the accelerator instead of the brakes.
Assistant sub-inspector Lakhwinder Singh, who is investigating the case, said the driver has been booked under sections 279 (rash driving) 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life) and 447 (criminal trespass) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Division no 1 police station. The car has been impounded.
Inspector Sanjeev Kapoor, station house officer, meanwhile, said the case was registered on the complaint of the shop owner as the injured persons were not willing to give a statement against the accused. He added that police verified the facts in the case and scanning through the CCTV footage.
