One dead in hit-and-run

In yet another hit-and-run accident that took place early on Thursday, a woman died when a speeding Mercedes Benz SLX sports car, a two-seater convertible, rammed a taxi at the Africa Avenue T-Point in RK Puram.

In yet another hit-and-run accident that took place early on Thursday, a woman died when a speeding Mercedes Benz SLX sports car, a two-seater convertible, rammed a taxi at the Africa Avenue T-Point in RK Puram.

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The car, owned by Kanwar Singh Tanwar—the richest candidate to contest the 2008 Delhi Assembly Elections—a Congress party member, was apparently being driven by his son Dinesh Singh Tanwar (26) at the time of the incident. Dinesh was said to be accompanied by a woman. Dinesh was arrested on Thursday.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) H.G.S. Dhaliwal said, “We are investigating if he was drunk or not at the time of the incident.”

“The taxi, driven by Naresh Kumar Kapoor (33), enroute to Delhi Cantt with a woman,” said a police officer. The taxi had turned right at the Africa Avenue-Church Road T-point when the Mercedes, doing nealry 150 kmph, coming from outer ring road, hit it, he said.

The impact was such that the taxi rolled over twice. The woman was thrown out of the taxi and fell into a nearly six-foot deep roadside ditch. She succumbed to her injuries at the hospital. Kapoor, the taxi driver, was seriously injured.

Dinesh and his female friend, the police said, fled from the spot after the incident, leaving the car behind.

Eyewitnesses say that Dinesh’s companion was driving the car while Dinesh was sitting in the passenger seat. “We were sleeping when we heard the crash. At the spot, we found a woman and a man. Both were badly injured. A PCR van was called and the injured were taken away in a CATS ambulance,” said Murli an eyewitness and a labourer who was sleeping on the pavement. He said Dinesh’s friend was also injured.

Police say, both the airbags in the Mercedes had popped out indicating the presence of another person.

Naresh Chander Kapoor (33), a resident of Kangra in Himachal Pradesh, was discharged in the afternoon after treatment. He was brought to RK Puram police station for statement, but his statement couldn’t be recorded till late in the evening as he was heavily sedated and in shock.

The police, however, have still not been able to identify the woman. The woman’s mobile phone was recovered from the wrecked taxi but it has not helped identify the victim.