Three students, including the son of a Chhattisgarh police officer, were killed and two seriously injured when their car rammed a stationary bus at Saket here in the early hours of Tuesday. The injured have been admitted to the intensive care unit of Max Hospital.
Mayank Pratap and his friends Akash, Vikas, Vipul Garg and Vikas Berwa were taking a joyride in their friend's car when tragedy struck around 3.15 a.m. Enquiries by the police revealed that while passing through Press Enclave Road, they overtook another car from the wrong side not realising that a bus was illegally parked ahead alongside the road.
Spotting the bus, the driver tried to swerve to the right to avoid a collision. But the left portion of the vehicle rammed the stationary bus, seriously injuring the occupants. The driver of another car immediately pulled over to help the injured. He rushed them to Max Hospital and then called up the police. Subsequently a police team reached the spot and secured the accident site. They purportedly found a hookah inside the mangled vehicle.
Mayank, Akash and Vikas, who were reportedly seated on the left side of the vehicle, were declared dead on arrival. The other two have been admitted to the ICU. “They have not yet been declared fit for statement. At this stage, it is not clear who was driving the car,” said a police officer.
Enquiries by the police revealed that the five had attended the birthday party of a common friend on Monday evening, after which they went out for a night-ride. The vehicle was found registered in the name of a resident of Sainik Farms, who told the police that he had sold it off about a month ago. “It appears that the victims had borrowed the vehicle from a friend,” said the officer.
Initial investigations revealed that Mayank, who lived in Malviya Nagar, was the son of a police officer posted in Chhattisgarh and was in the first year of graduation in a Delhi University college. Another deceased Vikas was the final year graduation student. Akash, who belonged to Yamunanagar in Haryana, was pursuing chartered accountancy and had been living here in Laxmi Nagar. While Vipul also lives in Laxmi Nagar and is preparing for chartered accountancy, Vikas Berwa is a first year graduation student and lives in Madangir.
The police have registered a case of causing death due to rash and negligent driving. “We have booked the bus owner for obstructive parking. The traffic police will also take necessary action in this regard,” said the officer.
