Drunk 24-yr-old rams Merc into auto, kills driver

Alcohol and speed continue to kill on Capital's roads. Early Sunday, a 35-year-old auto driver was killed in Vasant Kunj when a 24-year-old drunk Delhi University graduate sped his Mercedes into the three-wheeler.

Alcohol and speed continue to kill on Capital's roads.

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Early Sunday, a 35-year-old auto driver was killed in Vasant Kunj when a 24-year-old drunk Delhi University graduate sped his Mercedes into the three-wheeler.

At around 2.30am, Lalit Kumar was heading home to Paharganj in central Delhi when a Mercedes crashed into his three-wheeler from behind on Nelson Mandela Marg.

"The Mercedes was moving at almost 120km per hour," said a senior police officer on condition of anonymity. "A passer-by called the PCR (police control room). The auto driver was rushed to AIIMS, where he was declared dead."

Harshmeet Marwah, who was driving and was with two friends, was returning home to Green Park from a party at DLF Promenade, the police said.

Marwah left the mall with his two friends at around 2am.

The impact of the collision was so severe that Kumar was thrown off the auto, which was reduced to a mangled heap of metal.

The car, too, was damaged.

"We have arrested Marwah under section 185 (driving drunk or under the influence of drugs) of Motor Vehicles Act," said Chhaya Sharma, deputy commissioner of police (south).

A case of causing death due to rash driving has also been registered. A medical examination of Marwah, whose father is into real estate, confirmed that he was driving drunk, the DCP said.

Kumar is survived by his wife and his sons aged eight years and one month.

He was the only earning member of the family.