Delivery man killed by speeding driver, 1 held

The police arrested 20-year-old Rachit Singhal and booked him for rash driving and culpable homicide not amounting to murder

A 41-year-old delivery man associated with a restaurant aggregator was killed after an allegedly speeding car driven by a drunk 20-year-old student hit his motorcycle near Karol Bagh in central Delhi late on Thursday night.

The car, being driven by 20-year-old Rachit Singhal, hit the bike from behind. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

Police said around 11.30pm, Vinod Kumar was returning after delivering an order on his motorcycle and was headed towards Jhandewalan when the car being driven by one Rachit Singhal, a BBA student, hit the bike from behind. Kumar was thrown off the two-wheeler and suffered serious injuries. He was rushed to a nearby private hospital, where he died during treatment around 1.30am on Friday, the police said.

Singhal was arrested and booked for rash driving and culpable homicide not amounting to murder, a case regarding which was registered under Indian Penal Code’s (IPC’s) 279 and 304, deputy commissioner of police (central) Jasmeet Singh said.

“Singhal’s medical examination report confirmed that he was drunk while driving. Initially, Singhal was booked for rash and negligent driving causing death. But when his medical report confirmed that he was driving drunk, we converted the case into culpable homicide not amounting to murder,” said DCP Singh.

DCP Singh said Singhal was also found at the hospital, when the police reached there after receiving information about the accident. Singhal has been pursuing his BBA course from IP University. The car is registered in the name of his father, who is a businessman, added the DCP.

Nearly 100 people, including colleagues and family members of Kumar on Friday accused the police of conniving with the suspect and “trying to weaken the case” against him. They held a protest at the Karol Bagh police station on Friday morning. They alleged that a lawyer, who according to them, was hired to represent Singhal was carrying a bag containing cash to allegedly bribe the police personnel.

Kumar’s colleague, Sunil Chaudhary, who was among the protesters, said the car driver and some people known to him, including a lawyer, were inside the police station when the protest was on. When the lawyer came out of the police station, the protesters stopped him to ask what he was doing inside. The man claimed he was there for some other matter. Thereafter, he went to a car and took out a bag.

“Assuming that he was there to influence the case, we took his bag, opened it and found a couple of bundles of ₹2000 banknotes wrapped in a piece of paper. As we confronted him, he went inside the police station and later escaped. We gave the cash to the station house officer (SHO),” said Chaudhary.

A police officer, who asked not to be named, said the protesters thought the lawyer was trying to settle the case by bribing the police. “We have come across a video clip in which some men are seen snatching a bag from a person, taking out cash from it, and alleging the money was brought to bribe the police for favouring the accused. The lawyer, Ashish Kapoor, said he was only passing by the area, and has no link to the accused.”

Kapoor, however, told the police that the protesters allegedly assaulted him and snatched his bag containing ₹5 lakh cash.

No case has been registered so far in connection with Kapoor’s allegations and counter-claims by the protesters. The investigating officer earlier assigned to the case has been shifted to district lines to ensure a fair probe, a senior officer said.

The officer said they were trying to find out if Kapoor is connected with the family of the accused. “If not, why was he carrying ₹5 lakh, and where was he going at the time of the alleged snatching. It has been learnt that one of the protesters has Kapoor’s money. We are looking for him,” the officer said.