Delhi: 54-year-old dead in late night crash near Chanakyapuri

The impact of the crash overturned the SUV, a black Range Rover, while the Eeco van was left completely mangled

A 54-year-old cab driver was killed early on Thursday when a speeding SUV ran a red light and rammed into his van at the Sardar Patel Marg-Panchsheel Marg intersection in Chanakyapuri. Police suspect dense fog reduced visibility, leading to the accident.

Mangled remains of the SUV which jumped the red light and crashed into the cab early on Thursday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The cab driver – Sukhdev Yadav – was driving a Maruti Eeco van with two passengers en route from the airport when the SUV hit the vehicle on the driver’s side at around 4.30am, according to the police.

“The SUV was coming from Simon Bolivar Marg while the victim was in an Eeco van with two passengers. The accused hit the car sideways,” a police officer familiar with the case said.

The impact of the crash overturned the SUV, a black Range Rover, while the Ecco van was left completely mangled.

Yadav was killed on the spot, police said. His passengers, who were on the backseat, sustained minor injuries and were rushed to the hospital. They were later discharged.

Police said they received a call at 4.38am reporting the crash and a team was rushed to the spot.

The SUV occupants, two brothers from Paschim Vihar, were still inside the car by the time police arrived. They were arrested from the scene. They were interrogated and booked for rash driving and causing death by negligence.

A second officer said: “We checked the footage from the CCTV at the intersection and found that the SUV had jumped a red-light and crashed into the Eeco… The brothers told us they could not see the car because of the fog.”

The SUV had a Himachal Pradesh registration and the accused are used car dealers, said the police.

Police said the brothers had been partying at a five-star hotel before the crash and that their blood samples have been sent to check for alcohol consumption.

“We found that the brothers on Wednesday night were at a five-star hotel in Chanakyapuri and were partying. We have sent their blood samples to check for alcohol levels,” the second officer said.

Meanwhile, Yadav, whose family lives in Kalyanpuri, was called to the RML Hospital to collect his body. He is survived by his wife and their four children.

Friends remembered him as a devoted husband who took care for his ailing wife.

One of his friends, who asked not to be identified, said, “He had been working as a cab driver for more than 25 years. He was a careful driver and a good husband. Since his wife’s health deteriorated after Covid in 2021, he was trying to get extra gigs or jobs to help the family. He wanted his wife to get better and was the sole breadwinner of the family. We don’t know who will take care of the family now…”