Chargesheet filed in India Gate accident

The police submits in court the chargesheet against Satyajit, whose rash and negligent drivingleft two occupants of the car dead while one was critically injured. Naziya Alvi reports.

It took the Delhi Police eight long months to probe a case of accident.

HT Image

On Monday the police submitted in court the chargesheet against 19-year-old Satyajit, whose rash and negligent driving — allegedly in a drunken state — left two occupants of the car dead while one was critically injured. Satyajit is presently out on bail.

Sneha Kapoor (20) and Aniruddha Rawat (21) were killed after the vehicle smashed into a tree near India Gate in the wee hours on February 24, 2008. Satyajit and another youth Gaurav Sabikhi (25) survived the crash.

In a brief chargesheet filed in the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjay Bansal, the police have said Satyajit’s medical reports confirm he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident.

To prove its claim the police are likely to rely heavily on the statement of Gaurav Sabikhi, who survived the crash.

Sabikhi, the other survivor, has already recorded his statement before a magistrate and has categorically blamed Satyajit’s recklessness for the accident.

“This accident occurred entirely due to Satyajit, as he was driving the car rashly under the influence of liquor”, Sabikhi told the court.

He has also alleged that Satyajit was driving the car at the speed of 110 km per hour.

“Sneha and Anirudh, (the deceased) who were in the back seat, repeatedly requested him to slow down. Sneha even started to cry but Satyajit did not pay any heed. Suddenly, at one turn, the car abruptly hit the footpath and then on to a tree,” he said.

The chargesheet has been filed under sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way), 304-A (causing death by negligence), 338 IPC (act done rashly and negligently causing minor offence or grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 185 of the Motor Vehicle Act (driving a vehicle under the influence of liquor).

The case will now come up for hearing on December 17.