Samarth Chugh, 18, and his two friends – Ujjwal Goyal and Bhawya Rajpal, were out on an early spin in Chugh’s father’s Hyundai i20 Sportz. Sadly, they were involved in a gruesome accident. Chugh, who was at the wheel, did not even possess a driver’s license and lost control of the vehicle while overspeeding.
He ran over four people who were sleeping on the footpath near Salimgarh fort in North Delhi. The footpath dwellers got lodged under the car and Chugh drove back and forth in an attempt to free the vehicle and speed off, thus killing one person and severely injuring 3 others.
Chugh lost control over the vehicle at the bend on Ring Road at 6 am and the car climbed onto the footpath crushing the sleeping footpath dwellers. While the dead man is yet to be identified, the victims have been identified as Asif, 30, a rickshaw driver, Karan, 26 a daily wage earner and Sanjay, 28, a porter by profession. Each of the injured has been admitted at the Sushruta Trauma Centre in Civil Lines where they are being treated for severe injuries.
While the two friends tried to flee from the scene of the crime, they were rounded up by a PCR van. Chugh, who is a Class 12 student in Delhi Public School (DPS) at Mathura Road, was arrested on the spot and has been booked on charges of culpable homicide.
A medical examination was conducted to ascertain if he was driving under the influence of alcohol. He was driving at over 100 kmph and did not possess a license. He has been arrested under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), and 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Chugh is currently in judicial custody till May 4.
The family of the driver says that the accident did not occur due to high speed driving, but because the front tyre got punctured.
