Engineer dies in accident at women’s safety drive
GURUGRAM: A rally to raise awareness about crimes against women took a tragic turn on Sunday morning when a 29-year-old electronics engineer from Delhi was killed and two others were seriously injured after a car allegedly rammed them near a petrol station on the Gurugram-Faridabad, police said.
The three were part of an informal motorcycle club, the Highway Riders Biking Group. The rally, ‘Ride against Molestation’, had been flagged off at South Extension 2 at about 6 am.
The deceased, Deepak Pundir, is a resident of Jaitpur who works in a warehouse in Connaught Place. He had a B.Tech degree from Al-Falah University in Faridabad. Of the two injured, 35-year-old Dharmender has a wound on his left leg, while 25-year-old Aakash is battling for survival at the AIIMS trauma centre, police said, giving only the first names of the two injured bikers.
The incident took place at around 10am when the three had stopped to take a breather near at Gwal Pahari at the end of the rally. Police said a Ford Figo hatchback, coming from Faridabad at high speed, allegedly crashed into the motorcylces in an attempt to overtake a trailer.
The driver of the car, Parweer Singh, a resident of Faridabad’s Sector 88 who works as a civil engineer with a private company in Gurugram, was arrested and later released in bail, said sub-inspector Vinay Kumar of the Gwal Pahari police post.
A case has been registered against him under IPC sections 279 (rash driving), 304-A (death by negligence) and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) at Gurugram’s DLF phase 1 police station.
“Deepak Pundir and Dharmender were rushed to a private hospital in Sector 56. Pundir died under treatment, while Dharmender sustained a leg injury and is stable,” Kumar said.
Aakash, who lives in Delhi’s Dakshinpuri and works in a computer shop, was taken to AIIMS by a passerby. Police said that he was yet to regain consciousness until late on Sunday evening.
“Pundir sustained injuries on his head, left eye and back,” said assistant sub inspector (ASI) Rambir Singh, who is the investigating officer in the case.
“Prima facie, it does not appear that the car driver was under the influence of alcohol.”
ASI Singh said initial investigations suggested that Parweer Singh saw the riders late, and in a state of panic, stomped his foot on the accelerator instead of the break paddle. He was unhurt because the airbag on the car opened on impact, the officer added.
“The unfortunate incident took place after the ride had culminated at an off-road adventure zone in village Baliawas, and people were returning after refreshments to collect certificates,” said Aakash Shekhar, a Delhi University (DU) student and one of the organisers of the rally in which over 250 riders had participated.