Sarita Vihar crash: Absconding truck driver held, claims tyre burst led to it

The driver, Vinod, in his early 30s, claimed the accident happened after the front right truck tyre burst and he lost control

The absconding driver of the allegedly speeding truck, which crashed into a parked boom lift (crane) and an auto-rickshaw at a Delhi Traffic Police camera installation site in Sarita Vihar and left four people, including two members of a family, dead on Sunday, has been arrested in Haryana, a police officer said on Monday.

The truck crashed into a boom lift and an auto-rickshaw.

The driver, Vinod, in his early 30s, claimed the accident happened after the front right truck tyre burst and he lost control of the vehicle, the officer added. “We are not buying his tyre burst story. Our probe suggests the truck tyre burst after crashing into the boom lift, the auto-rickshaw, and then into the road divider. The boom lift’s rear left tyre also burst due to the crash,” said the officer.

Joint police commissioner Vijay Kumar said Vinod is a resident of Haryana’s Faridabad. “The truck owner is also from Faridabad. The investigating team is interrogating the arrested driver to establish the exact sequence of events leading to the road crash that claimed four people and left two others injured,” Kumar said.

Six people were rushed to a nearby hospital, where HR manager Suraj Nayal, 34, auto driver Umesh Kumar, 23, and technician Praveen Kumar, 35, were declared dead. Praveen Kumar’s 26-year-old cousin, Anup Kumar, later died during treatment. The two injured were identified as Aakash, 20, and Khem Singh, 40. Sudhir, another Aabmatica employee at the site, escaped unharmed.

Police said the truck, which usually carried construction material, was empty at the time of the incident. The truck driver fled the spot, leaving the truck and the injured people behind. The truck was suspected to be returning from Noida after unloading material and was going to Faridabad for reloading.

“Since entry of heavy vehicles, including trucks carrying construction material, is allowed only between 11pm and 6am, when no-entry restrictions are lifted, truck drivers try to use that window for maximum trips. And to achieve that target, they drive at high speed,” said an investigator.