Driver begged us not to thrash him: Witnesses

“As the silver Scorpio hit him, Mohammed Imran (2) screamed. That was the last sound he uttered before losing consciousness,” said Ramesh Yadav, a resident of Baiganwadi who was standing at a cigarette shop when the accident occurred.

“As the silver Scorpio hit him, Mohammed Imran (2) screamed. That was the last sound he uttered before losing consciousness,” said Ramesh Yadav, a resident of Baiganwadi who was standing at a cigarette shop when the accident occurred.

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Yadav was part of the crowd that surrounded the Scorpio, ensuring that the driver and passenger did not get away then.

“Mohammed, who was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, was known to me as he came by the shop often to buy toffees. I know his father, too, as the family has been staying here for the past 10 years,” said Yadav, a carpenter. “It was so sudden that for a few moments I did not realise what had happened. This lane is too congested for even a two-wheeler to pass, so I could not believe a Scorpio had not only entered it, but had run over somebody.”

The crowd forced the occupants of the vehicle to get out. “We were prepared to thrash them, but the two — they appeared to be drunk — pleaded with us and offered to take the boy to hospital,” said Shukat Ahmed, a resident of the locality and owner of a general store.

After the duo — as yet unidentified — put the boy in the SUV to take him to the hospital, the locals informed his parents.

“I was shocked and ran towards Vikas Nursing Home, where I saw Mohammed covered in blood. The doctors refused to admit him and told us to take him to Rajawadi Hospital instead,” said Rizwan Ahmed, the victim’s uncle.

“We had seen the accused drinking with two locals, Ayub and Babul Machmach, who are well-known in the area as criminals. Both of them are connected to the water mafia and have cases of power and water theft against them,” said Salman Sayyed, Imran’s neighbour. He accompanied Ahmed to the hospital.