Police officer’s son mowed down by SUV in Lucknow

Boy run over while he was skating near Janeshwar Mishra Park; two youths arrested and booked under IPC sections 279 (reckless driving) and 304-A (causing death due to negligent driving): Cops

LUCKNOW A nine-year-old son of a senior Uttar Pradesh cop was killed after being hit by a “speeding” SUV in Lucknow on Tuesday morning, police said, adding that two college students were arrested later in the day.

The spot where the accident took place near a street light pole on G20 Road. (Sourced)

The boy, Naimish Krishna, son of additional superintendent of police (ASP) Shweta Srivastava, was skating outside the park gate when the vehicle hit him, causing grievous injuries that led to his untimely demise. The incident took place in front of his mother, who was following him in a vehicle, said Ashish Srivastava deputy commissioner of police (east).

The two ypuths in the vehicle - Sarthak Singh, 20, LLB first semester student from a private university and his friend Devshree Verma, 22, pursuing BTech third year from a city college were arrested after the police launched a search for them. They were booked under IPC sections 279 (reckless driving) and 304-A (causing death due to negligent driving), he said.

The DCP said Devshree Verma was driving the SUV while going towards G20 road and Sarthak Singh was behind the wheel while returning when the boy was hit. The accused are residents of Indira Nagar Sector 16 and 19, respectively.

“The speed of the SUV would have been around 150kmph as the two youths were competing with each other as to who could drive faster,” the DCP said.

Sarthak Singh is son of a former Zila Panchayat member of Barabanki while Devshree Verma belongs to a businessman’s family.

He said Verma had borrowed the SUV from his uncle Anshul Verma, a Kanpur jeweller, on Monday night and took it for the ride early on Tuesday morning. The jeweller had come to Lucknow for a family function and handed over the SUV to his nephew.

The news of the incident spread like wildfire, after which senior police officials, including special DG (law and order) Prashant Kumar and police commissioner SB Shiradkar reached ASP Shweta Srivastava’s maternal home on Faizabad Road near Kukrail Bandha to console her. The ASP stays along with her mother in Lucknow while her husband Abhinav Srivastava is employed with a private bank in Gurgaon.

Shweta Srivastava is a 2007 batch Provincial Police Services (PPS) officer and currently posted as ASP in State Special Investigation Team since August 2022. Before being promoted to the ASP rank, she was posted as ACP of Gomti Nagar circle in Lucknow. Her son Naimish was a Class 3 student at St Francis’ School (Gomti Nagar branch).

The ASP had taken her son for a skating session at Team Awadh Speed Skating Academy at gate number 6 of Janeshwar Mishra Park around 4.30am. The child’s road session was scheduled in the morning and the incident took place around 5.25am, said Sudhir Awasthi, inspector in-charge of Gomti Nagar Extension police station.

“The SUV was coming from Shaheed Path side, moving towards Janeshwar Mishra Park’s gate number 6 when it hit the boy. The victim suffered head injury and was declared dead at Sahara Hospital,” he said, adding, “The driver fled the spot after the accident.”

He said the SUV was seized from Devshree Verma’s house after the arrest of the two youths.