72-year-old hit by car in GK-1, dragged for 100m

A 72-year-old man was killed after he was rammed by a car near his residence in Greater Kailash 1 (GK-1) in south Delhi, police officers aware of the matter said on Thursday, adding that they suspect that the vehicle dragged the victim for around 100m before speeding away

A 72-year-old man was killed after he was rammed by a car near his residence in Greater Kailash 1 (GK-1) in south Delhi, police officers aware of the matter said on Thursday, adding that they suspect that the vehicle dragged the victim for around 100m before speeding away.

Police said the incident occurred on November 30. (File)

Deputy commissioner of police (south) Chandan Chowdhary said the incident occurred on November 30, and the victim was identified as Ajit Lal Tandon, a resident of GK-1 C Block.

Giving details of the case, the officer said that the police control room received a call at around 7pm on November 30 about a man being injured in an accident. A police van reached the spot and shifted the victim to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, she said. “At the hospital, it was revealed that an unknown vehicle hit the man, and he was declared dead,” Chowdhary said.

Subsequently, a police team inspected the spot and a case was registered at the Greater Kailash police station under Indian Penal Code sections 279 (rash driving) and 304A (causing death by negligence), she said.

Tandon’s son Arvind Tandon, 53, who lives in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, said he received a call from the AIIMS Trauma Centre at around 8pm, informing him that he should reach the hospital. “I immediately called my sister-in-law, who lives in Delhi, but when she reached the hospital, she was told that he had died,” he said.

Arvind said his father lived with a caretaker after the death of his mother (the victim’s wife) in March. “He told the caretaker that he was stepping out for 10-15 minutes. We don’t know where he was headed,” he said.

An investigator, declining to be named, said that a spot inspection revealed that the victim was likely dragged by the car. “The place where Tandon’s spectacles were found, and the place where his body was found were about 100 metres apart. He was found face-down,” the investigator said.

During investigation, with the help of CCTV footage from the scene of crime, the car involved in the accident was identified as a Honda City owned by Tarun Arora, 50, a resident of Kalkaji B Block, the investigator said.

Arora was apprehended from his residence on Wednesday, and was later released on bail as the IPC sections levelled were bailable. “The accused had no previous criminal involvement or history of drunk-driving. However, whether he was drunk at the time of the incident cannot be ascertained, since almost a week has passed since the incident,” the investigator said.