Toddler dies after being hit by pickup van in Gurugram’s Sector 17

Two-and-a-half-year-old was playing outside home when accident occurred; locals caught the driver, police registered FIR and sent blood samples for testing.

A two-and-a-half-year-old boy died after he was mowed down by a pickup van in Sector 17 on Sunday evening, police said on Monday.

Child was rushed to a private hospital by neighbours but succumbed to head injuries; CCTV footage to be examined to verify speeding claims. (Getty Images)

The deceased was identified as Kartik Kumar, who was playing outside his residence in Sukhrali when the accident took place, police said. They added that Kartik was rushed by his parents and neighbours to a private hospital in Sector 5, where he succumbed to severe head injuries during treatment.

Police said the child’s family hails from the Sitamarhi district of Bihar and has been living in the city for the past several years.

Dinesh Mahto, the boy’s father, told policehe had returned from the market and was entering his residence when Kartik was playing outside with other children. “I took him in my lap and put him back to play with peers. As soon as I entered inside, the incident took place,” he added. Mahto alleged that the pickup van was speeding from a bylane towards the sector main road. “The driver, in a hurry, mowed down my son, resulting in his death,” he said in the complaint.

Police said it will be ascertained whether the van was speeding once CCTV footage of the incident is obtained and examined.

Mahto added that neighbours helped arrange an auto-rickshaw, in which Kartik was rushed to the hospital without waiting for an ambulance, given his critical condition.

Sandeep Turan, public relations officer of Gurugram police, said local residents chased the pickup van after the accident and managed to intercept it. “The driver was also caught, and he was handed over to the police by the locals. He was later identified as Suraj Singh, who hailed from Shahbazpur in Uttar Pradesh. He was later handed over to the police for necessary legal action,” Turan said.

Turan said police received information about the accident from the hospital, following which teams were dispatched both to the hospital and the accident spot for investigation.

Police said blood samples have been collected from the driver for forensic analysis as part of routine procedure.

On Mahto’s complaint, an FIR was registered against the van driver under sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 281 (rash driving) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at Sector 18 police station on Sunday night. The child’s body was handed over to the parents after an autopsy on Monday, police said.