‘Teen hit by Merc was not wearing helmet’

Atul Arora, who was allegedly knocked down by a speeding Mercedes in Paschim Vihar of west Delhi on Sunday night, was riding a scooter without a licence or a helmet.

It would have been his first day in Class XII at Bal Bharti Public School on Monday. But his life was cut short when a silver Mercedes, which eyewitnesses say was speeding at 100 kmph - ran over him. He was returning home on his mother’s scooter after dropping a friend.

Atul would have turned 17 on April 18. “He did not have a driving licence. Since it was only local travel, we allowed him to ride the scooter,” Atul’s sister Ruchi told HT.

Rishi Pal, DCP (Outer district), said Atul was not wearing a helmet either. Despite eyewitness accounts, he refused to say whether it was a Mercedes car that had hit Atul and said it was a matter of investigation.

The family of five, that includes Atul’s two elder sisters, was attending a religious programme at an ashram in nearby Sundar Vihar. Atul’s father is an employee of Delhi Development Authority and his mother is a teacher. The driver of the Mercedes, who is yet to be identified, fled from the spot after the accident around 10.30 pm on Sunday night, eyewitnesses said. The vehicle was yet to be traced.

NK Saini, an eyewitness to the accident, said he and some other people stopped another vehicle passing by and shifted Atul to a nearby hospital that night where he was declared brought dead.