Gurgaon police hunt for owner of Mercedes that killed 4-year-old girl

Driver claims to own the car, but could not show registration certificate to back the claim; gets bail

The accused driver of the Mercedes Benz, which ran over a four-year-old girl on Sunday afternoon, was released on bail by the district court on Monday. But the police are still trying the trace the owners of the vehicle involved.

According to the Ministry Transport and Highways website, the car HR 26 CM 0006 (above), is owned by Sandhya Singh. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

Around 3pm on Saturday, four-year-old Devika was playing on the roadside, next to the slums where her family resides, when she was hit by the Mercedes on Old Delhi-Gurgaon Road. Due to the impact, her head hit the pavement. Police said driver Sunil Kumar rushed her to the general hospital where she succumbed to injuries.

As per details procured from the website of Ministry Transport and Highways (MoRTH), the vehicle, a white Mercedes Benz ML 350, with registration number HR 26 CM 0006, is owned by one Sandhya Singh.

The police though claim that they have been “busy with getting the victim’s autopsy done and presenting the accused at the district court”. Hence, they haven’t verified the car’s details from MoRTH or Regional Transport Authority (RTA).

“We are investigating the matter and it appears Sunil (the accused) is not the owner of the vehicle despite his claims. It appears he maybe shielding the original owner although the same can’t be confirmed as the vehicle’s RC is missing,” assistant sub inspector (ASI) Narpat Singh, the investigation officer in the case said.

“We have added relevant sections of the Motor Vehicle Act in the FIR after the accused was not able to present the RC. We were occupied with getting the victim’s autopsy done and presenting the accused at the district court. We will verify the details from the transport office,” the ASI said.

The white Mercedes SUV did not have any stickers on the windscreen to give clarity about its owners.

When asked why the police did not verify the details on MORTH or with the regional transport authority, DCP (West) Sumit Kuhar said ”he will look into the matter on Tuesday”.

“Justice will be done in the case. I’ll have a look at the FIR and the police will also scan through the CCTV footage to verify that the driver (Sunil) was driving the vehicle or if it was someone else,” Kuhar said.

Sunil, a resident of Mahendargarh was produced in a local court on Monday morning and subsequently released on bail.

The police added that the postmortem examination on Devika, the four-year-old girl, has been conducted and her body has been handed over to the family who have performed the last rites.

On May 9 last year, a seven-year-old girl student of Ryan International School, Sector 40, was hit by a car after her school bus dropped her on the wrong side of the road. She died at a city hospital late on May 19. The police have not been able to trace the car owner so far.

Last November, an eight-year-old child Ankit, a resident of Rajokri in Delhi, died in a hit-and-run accident near Ambience mall when he had come to collect leftover food from a wedding reception.