Mercedes hit-and-run: Minor driver's father quizzed, sent to police remand

Delhi Police today interrogated the Mercedes owner whose minor son allegedly knocked dead a 32-year-old man with the vehicle in north Delhi’s Civil Lines area after a city court remanded him in its custody.

The man, arrested under the charge of abetment to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, was today produced at the court which sent him to one-day police remand, DCP (North) Madhur Verma said.

The businessman will be confronted with a range of questions, mostly surrounding the mystery regarding the man who approached police on the day of the incident, claiming to be his driver, and took responsibility of the act but later retracted.

More charges can be slapped on him depending upon the disclosures during interrogation, an official privy to the investigation said.

Meanwhile, the investigating officer of the case was also changed yesterday after the victim Siddharth Sharma’s sister met Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma and urged him to take strict action against the perpetrators.

Police are seeking legal counselling about going to a court and asking for the minor’s remand too as the charge in the case has been changed from IPC Section 304 A (causing death by negligence), which is bailable, to Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), which is non bailable.

The step was taken in view of the past record of negligent driving by the minor who is learnt to have turned 18 years yesterday.

“During investigation it emerged that it was not the first offence of rash and negligent driving by this accused juvenile. In the past too he was found driving in a rash and negligent way, thereby causing a road accident with another vehicle,” police said.

Last year, the minor was also challaned thrice—for over-speeding in April and June and wrong parking in February.

The last time Delhi Police booked someone under culpable homicide in such a matter was in the Sanjeev Nanda BMW case 17 years ago, a senior official said.

On January 10, 1999, six persons, including three policemen, were killed by a speeding BMW car allegedly driven by Nanda in the wee hours in south Delhi’s Lodhi Colony area.

Similar stand was also taken by Mumbai Police in the Salman Khan case.

The Civil Lines incident took place on Monday when Sharma was trying to cross a road near Ludlow Castle School and the speeding Mercedes hit him.

The car was being driven at a speed of at least 80 km per hour and Sharma was flung several feet into the air by the impact of the crash and landed around 15 metres away from where he stood.

After the incident, a group of youths stepped out of the vehicle and fled the spot, abandoning the car there.