Gurugram: A 20-year-old student of St Stephen’s College in New Delhi rammed his car into a worksite on the Dwarka Expressway, killing three workers and seriously injuring another.
The student, identified as Vedant Khanna (20) has also been injured in the incident and is now in hospital, the police said. He is a third-year Economics Honours student at the well-known college.
The incident occurred near Ram Chowk between 1.50 am and 2.30 am on Thursday, the police said. A group of labourers was installing an iron fence on the central median when a white hatchback with a Delhi registration plate, coming from Delhi, hit the workers, officials said, as reported by The Indian Express.
The dead workers have been identified as Bijender Singh (58), his cousin Pappu Singh (55) and site contractor Satish Chand (43). All three, along with the injured worker, Ram Kumar (28), were from Sarvana village in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district.
The men had moved to Gurugram just two days ago and lived together in a rented accommodation in nearby Bajghera. Ram Kumar is currently in the ICU of a private hospital.
An FIR was registered after a complaint by Chand’s brother, Jitender Kumar, who was also working at the site. The complaint says the work site was clearly demarcated with standard safety gear, including reflective warning boards, barricades, and trestles.
While two workers were pouring concrete into the foundation at the base of the median, others were supporting the iron railing panels, the complaint said. The speeding car struck the safety barriers, ran over the workers on the divider, slammed into a pickup truck parked ahead, and mounted the median before coming to a stop.
The impact pushed the parked utility truck forward by over 100 metres, and the car was crumpled. Passersby and workers who escaped the crash notified emergency services, and police and ambulances reached the scene. The injured were rushed to the Civil Hospital, where Bijender and Pappu were declared dead. Chand succumbed to his injuries later that night.
Khanna was initially transported to a local hospital before being shifted to a private facility.
While the complainant and other workers have alleged that Khanna appeared drunk, police said this could only be confirmed after forensic reports. Blood samples have been collected to confirm whether the driver was under the influence of alcohol or other substances, Gurugram Police’s public relations officer Sandeep Turan said.
The vehicles involved in the crash have been impounded. Based on Kumar’s statement, an FIR has been registered against Khanna under sections relating to causing death by negligence, rash driving, act endangering life or personal safety, among others.