Gurugram hit-and-run accused likely deliberately tried to hit woman biker: Police

The suspects were identified as 33-year-old Kalyan Bainsla and his cousin, 34-year-old Lavnish, both residents of Chandhut in Palwal.

The driver who allegedly rammed his car into a woman motorcyclist on Gurugram’s Golf Course Road on Sunday was arrested from Dausa in Rajasthan along with his cousin on Tuesday, police said, adding that attempt-to-murder charges were invoked after investigators concluded that the incident appeared to involve a deliberate attempt to hit the biker.

Police arrested Kalyan Bainsla who was involved in the road rage case at Golf Course Road in Gurugram. (HT Photo)

The suspects were identified as 33-year-old Kalyan Bainsla and his cousin, 34-year-old Lavnish, both residents of Chandhut in Palwal. Kalyan owns a gym and runs a real estate business in Palwal, police said.

Investigators said Kalyan attempted to escape from police custody while being brought back to Gurugram. He sustained injuries to his left forearm and head while fleeing and was briefly taken to a hospital.

Female motorcyclist hit by car

Sunday’s incident took place between 7.15am and 7.30am when Delhi resident Shivani Chauhan, alias Sia, was riding her motorcycle with a group of bikers. It came to light after she posted a video of the incident on social media, prompting police to take suo motu cognisance.

In an Instagram video, Chauhan described the incident and alleged that the driver “appeared to be drunk”. She said she had tried to maintain as much distance as possible from the car following an exchange of words.

Cops nab accused

On Monday, police registered an FIR at Sector 56 police station under sections 125 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 281 (rash driving) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

After Bainsla’s arrest, DCP (East) Sandeep Kumar said CCTV footage and recordings from the motorcycles showed that he had chased Chauhan and deliberately rammed the car into her bike. “Thus, we invoked BNS sections 109 (attempt to murder) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) in the FIR on Tuesday against Bainsla and Lavnish,” he said.

Kumar said the decision to invoke attempt to murder charges was based on the suspected intention behind the incident rather than the extent of Chauhan’s injuries. “Even though the victim had not sustained any life-threatening injuries, looking at the intention to harm her fatally after chasing, it was decided that the attempted murder charges must be added,” he said.

Police also added sections 78 (stalking) and 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the BNS after Chauhan’s statement was recorded on Tuesday. “Looking at these developments, sections 78 and 79 of BNS were also added in the case,” Kumar said, adding that the victim had alleged that the suspects made obscene gestures and comments towards her. Police said the two would be produced before a court and sought two days’ remand for interrogation.

DCP Kumar said Kalyan became nervous after the footage of the crash began circulating online and was subsequently carried by news channels.

“He planned to project himself as the victim and gave interview to news channel as soon as he got to know that an FIR was registered against him in an attempt to counter the narrative set against him,” Kumar said.

He later switched off his mobile phone and fled Palwal with Lavnish in another car to avoid being tracked, police said.