Delhi: 2 killed as car runs over 4 sleeping men near Rajouri Garden

NEW DELHI: A drunk techie, speeding in a Honda Civic car, ran over four men sleeping on the footpath at Ring Road near Rajouri Garden early Sunday morning, killing two of them and leaving another battling for life.
The driver, Devesh Kumar, 25, was heading to the airport to receive a friend after a party. He was beaten up by locals before police arrested him. He was booked for culpable homicide (304 IPC) as alcohol in his body was beyond the permissible limit.
Techie had partied all night, lost control of car
The crash was reported around 5am, when a passerby called up the PCR about four men being crushed under a car near the ESI hospital. The driver lost control of the Honda Civic and swerved left onto the footpath where the men were sleeping, DCP (west) Monika Bhardwaj said. Such was the speed for the car that two rickshaws parked on the footpath were flung in the air on impact.
The dead were identified as Noora, 50, and Shukla, 34. Ram Singh, 55, and Manoj, 35, were injured in the crash. While Manoj is critical, a case has been registered against the driver based on the statement of Ram Singh. The driver, Kumar, works at an IT firm in Gurgaon and lives in Paschim Vihar. In his statement, Singh said that he along with three others was sleeping on the footpath as usual.
While he was getting up to go to a public toilet, the car zigzagged on the road and came onto the footpath. Singh said he managed to save himself by jumping away, but hurt his arm and leg in the process. Police said all four victims were rickshawpullers and daily labourers who had come to the city from villages in eastern UP and Bihar. They used to sleep on the same footpath every day. Cops are trying to contact the families of the two deceased men. During interrogation, Kumar told the cops that he had partied through the night with a friend before dropped him off at Paschim Vihar. He then drank some more in the car before heading out for the airport.
CCTV footage from the area is being scanned to establish the sequence of events. The car was found to be registered with a cargo and transport firm owned by Devesh’s father. It was found to be more than 10 years old and modified several times. Devesh’s friends too have been called for questioning.