Mercedes case: ‘Dummy’ driver held, cops say kin tried to mislead probe

Police have arrested the driver who was sent as a ‘dummy’ allegedly by the family of the minor to own responsibility for the Mercedes hit-and-run incident in which a 32-year-old IT professional was killed last week, a report said on Monday.

Police have arrested the driver who was sent as a ‘dummy’ allegedly by the family of the minor to own responsibility for the Mercedes hit-and-run incident in which a 32-year-old IT professional was killed last week, a report said on Monday.

Family members and friends of Sidharth Sharma A 32-year-old IT professional WHO was killed after he was hit by a speeding Mercedes during a protest for Justice at Central Park in Connaught Place. (Hindustan Times)

According to the Indian Express, the 33-year-old driver, who works for the minor’s businessman father, was arrested on Sunday and granted bail later.

The driver had earlier approached the police and allegedly claimed that he was driving the car but changed his statement when he got to know that Sharma had died.

Police suspect it was an attempt to mislead investigation into the death of Siddharth Sharma, who was killed after being struck by the speeding Mercedes in north Delhi’s Civil Lines area, the daily said. Sharma, the son of a retired navy officer, died on the spot after the speeding luxury car hit him.

The driver has been booked under sections 201 and 203 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Express cited unnamed sources as saying that the sections have been added to the same case of the accident that was registered at Civil Lines on April 4.

The minor was apprehended again on charges of culpable homicide on Sunday and sent to a correction home. Police had also arrested the juvenile’s father on charges of abetment and culpable homicide on Saturday. He has been granted bail.

“We have again apprehended the boy and sent him to a correction home, after producing him before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB),” DCP Madhur Verma told The Indian Express.

Sharma’s family had released the CCTV camera footage of the hit-and-run incident that showed him being flung at least 15 metres into the air after being hit by the car.

Witnesses said that they saw a group of young boys stepping out of the car and fleeing the scene, leaving the vehicle at the spot after the accident.

Police recorded eyewitnesses’ accounts and scanned dozens of CCTV grabs to ascertain the identity of the errant driver, who turned out to be the businessman’s 17-year old son. The boy was apprehended last Tuesday and later released on bail as per legal provisions.

Minutes before hitting Sharma, the Mercedes car had grazed past two bikers near the Delhi Vidhan Sabha. They were not injured and have not filed any complaint.

According to the Express, police claimed to have several witnesses to earlier traffic violations committed by the juvenile. Last year, on February 16, the juvenile allegedly rammed his car into a fruit vendor, and hit another car in the process, in northwest Delhi’s Maurice Nagar area.

Police, however, did not lodge a case and let him go after issuing a warning to his father. The Class 12 student had mowed down Sharma with the same vehicle.