On Holi-Eve And Holi
New Delhi: Drunk driving claimed at least 11 lives across the country on Holi-eve and Holi between Thursday evening and Friday afternoon across the country. Among those killed was a child, a policeman, and a home guard personnel. In one shocking video doing the rounds, a college student is seen getting out of a wrecked Volkswagen, after crushing a woman to death in Gujarat’s Vadodara, and screaming ‘another round’.
The incident occurred shortly after midnight in the Karelibag area of Vadodara. Hemani Patel had stepped out of her house with her minor daughter to purchase Holi colours. The two were on a two-wheeler when a black car, being driven at 120 km/hr smashed into them from behind. While Hemani died on the spot, her daughter is in hospital with serious injuries.
The driver of the car then smashed into several other vehicles, wrecking the front portion completely, before stepping out and shouting a woman’s name and saying ‘another round’. He is then heard chanting ‘Om Namah Shivay’ before being assaulted by locals. He has been identified as Rakshit Ravish Chaurasia (20), a law student at a local university. Chaurasia is from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
The car belonged to Mit Chauhan, who was accompanying Chaurasia in the car. He has been arrested as well. Medical tests revealed that both were drunk.
Barely a couple of hours later, constable Sudarshan of Chandigarh Police and home guard Rajnish were checking cars at the Zirakpur-Chandigarh Barrier when a speeding Volkswagen Polo rammed into them. They were then checking the documents of a vehicle they had stopped. Samarth, the 23-year-old driver of the vehicle they had stopped, was also standing nearby. All three were killed on the spot.
The police succeeded in tracing the car and arrested the driver, who works as a cleaner at a car showroom. He confessed that he had taken the car from the showroom around 10 pm and then drunk with his friends (who were accompanying him in the vehicle).
In the latest incident, an SUV smashed into three e-rickshaws in the Nadia district of West Bengal, killing seven persons, including a child. Eight others were injured. The victims were apparently returning home after shopping for Eid. The car, or driver, have not yet been traced by the police who suspect that it was a case of drunk driving.
