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Delhi BMW crash accused has close ties to hospital where she took victim
Investigators said Makkad insisted on taking the victims to the hospital around 20 kilometres from the accident site, bypassing closer options
Gaganpreet Makkad, who was behind the wheel of a BMW that mowed down 52-year-old Navjot Singh, has close ties with the hospital where she took the victim, with her father listed as a director on two companies registered at the same address as the hospital, according to a database maintained by the Union ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) and investigators familiar with the case.
Javinder Singh, whom police identified as Makkad’s father, is listed as a director and promoter of two companies, Nulife Advanced Diagnostics Private Limited and Nulife Luxury Realtors Private Limited. Both share the same registered address as the company that owns the hospital, which also operates from the same address – House No. 1616, First Floor, Outram Line, GTB Nagar.
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The MCA database also showed that one of the directors of Nulife Hospital (listed on MCA website as HK Nulife Hospitals Private Limited) is also a director of the two companies that Makkad’s father is on the board of.
“Javinder Singh is the maternal uncle of Dr Harish Kumar (the founder of Nulife Hospital),” said a senior police officer privy to case details. Dr Kumar, who founded the hospital in 1992, passed away during the Covid pandemic. His children now run the facility, the officer added.
Notably, investigators said Makkad insisted on taking the victims to the hospital around 20 kilometres from the accident site, bypassing closer options such as Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, 7.8km away, and AIIMS, 12km from the spot.
Navjot Singh, deputy secretary at the Union finance ministry, and his wife Sandeep Kaur, residents of Hari Nagar in west Delhi, were on their bike when the BMW SUV – allegedly driven by Makkad – hit the central verge in Dhaula Kuan, toppled, and struck their two-wheeler.
Singh suffered fatal injuries while Kaur sustained multiple fractures. The accident occurred on Sunday afternoon; Makkad was arrested the following day and remanded in two-day judicial custody.
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In her statement to police, Kaur said she pleaded repeatedly with Makkad to take them to the nearest hospital, but her requests went unheard.
“As soon as the collision took place, both of us fell. My husband suffered severe injuries to his head, face and legs. I have suffered multiple fractures to my hands and legs and also suffered head injuries, necessitating 14 stitches,” she said.
“I was repeatedly requesting that lady to take us to a nearby hospital so that we could get first aid quickly, because my husband was unconscious at that time and he needed immediate medical attention. But despite my repeated requests, that lady did not take us to the nearest hospital,” Kaur told police.
When questioned over the past two days, Makkad told investigators she took the victims to Nulife Hospital because she “trusted the hospital as they had saved her children when they were infected during the pandemic” and claimed that she had “no links” to the institution.
But a probe the following day suggested otherwise. Investigators said her husband Parikshit Makkad told police that as she left the accident site for Nulife Hospital, he called his father-in-law Javinder Singh to inform him that Gaganpreet was on her way with the two victims. “He claimed that he was unaware why Gaganpreet opted to go to the hospital in GTB Nagar,” the officer cited above said.
Meanwhile, Navjot’s postmortem was conducted on Tuesday and his last rites were performed the same day -- which happened to be his son Navnoor Singh’s birthday.
“After the postmortem, Navjot’s mortal remains were taken to Venkateswara Hospital, where his wife was admitted, so she could see him one last time,” said a cousin who asked not to be identified.
The cremation was attended by officials from the embassies of Japan, South Korea and China.
Makkad has been booked under charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, obstruction of evidence, rash driving and endangering lives under sections 281, 125B, 105 and 238 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
