Man sitting in middle of road run over by car in Ghaziabad, dies

Police said someone in another vehicle, which was being driven on the wrong side, was making a video around 12.30am on Tuesday when the car driven by Sharma allegedly ran over the unidentified person, who is suspected to have been intoxicated

A 40-year-old driver has been apprehended after he allegedly crashed his car into an unidentified person sitting in the middle of a road and dragged him for a few metres late Tuesday night on Hapur Road, where Ghaziabad’s district court and offices of the police commissioner, and the district magistrate are located. The incident was also caught on camera by another motorist and widely shared on social media, police said.

A screen grab of the video which surfaced on the internet on Wednesday.

Deputy police commissioner Nipun Agarwal identified the car driver as Saurabh Sharma and said he was being questioned. “We are questioning him and have seized the car. The deceased man is yet to be identified and the police have taken suo motu cognizance of the offence and filed a case,” he said.

Police said someone in another vehicle, which was being driven on the wrong side, was making a video around 12.30am on Tuesday when the car driven by Sharma allegedly ran over the unidentified person, who is suspected to have been intoxicated.

The video showed Sharma’s car, sporting the flag of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and “vidhayak BJP” sticker on the rear side, running over the man in the middle of the road and dragging him for a metres before coming to a halt.

Police sources said the suspect claimed to be a representative of Sanjay Sharma, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Anupshahr.

When contacted, the MLA denied any connection with the suspect.

“The incident was brought to my knowledge but I have not appointed anyone as my representative. The man (the suspect) is not related to me. I have never met him nor know him. The police must take action as per the law,” the MLA said.

Assistant police commissioner Abhishek Srivastava said the unidentified person was dragged for several metres. “The men [in the other vehicle] making the video got out and shouted at the driver to stop. Sharma said he could not spot the man in the middle of the road,” he said..

The injured man was taken to a hospital where he was declared brought dead by doctors. His identity is yet to be established, the ACP said.

Sharma was booked under Indian Penal Code sections 279 (rash driving on public way) and 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) at Kavi Nagar police station.

“The injured man seemed to be under the influence. It is being verified,” Srivastava said.

“IPC Section 304 is non-bailable and we are also looking into the flag and stickers that were pasted on the car. More sections, for impersonation, could be added during the course of investigation,” the ACP said.