2nd victim dies in Mercedes hit-and-run
NEW DELHI: A 35-year-old fruit seller, who was injured in Sunday night’s accident in Dwarka involving a Mercedes Benz, succumbed to injuries in Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) hospital on Wednesday evening. Another of the victims, Sarvesh, had died on the spot.
Police said Inder had suffered serious injuries. He was initially admitted to a private Dwarka hospital but when his condition deteriorated, he was shifted to DDU hospital. Inder was the only witness police had against 28-year-old driver Nakul Dabas, who was arrested on Tuesday night.
“Inder’s statement would have helped us ascertain the exact sequence of events and make the case against Dabas stronger,” a police officer, associated with the case, said.
Both Inder and Sarvesh were fruit sellers. They were allegedly mowed down by Dabas, at Ganapati Chowk in Dwarka Sector 9 around 11.30pm Sunday.
According to police, Dabas told them that he did not see the two men as it was dark and that he was talking to his friends, while driving. He also stated that he was neither drunk nor speeding at the time. Investigators said since Dabas was arrested over 48 hours after the accident, his medical examination did not help them ascertain whether he was drunk at the time.
On Wednesday, Dabas was granted bail by a city court. Dabas supplies groceries to a construction company in Dwarka’s Sector 25. He also runs two restaurants in Gurugram with his brothers. They also trade in high-end used cars.
Dabas allegedly told police that he was returning from his Dwarka Sector 24 office when the incident happened. “Instead of rushing them to hospital, Dabas fled. He dropped his friends and later parked in Shahabad Mohammadpur area,” the officer said.
Deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Anto Alphonse said based on a tip-off, Dabas was arrested from Dwarka Sector 24. His interrogation led to the recovery of the car.
“We had found a bumper mesh grill with the Mercedes logo and some white broken parts of the vehicle at the acci- dent spot. But there were no CCTV cameras or eyewitnesses. We obtained details of around 4,500 Mercedes registered in DelHI-NCR and focused our probe in Gurugram, and areas around west and southwest Delhi,” Alphonse said.
Nine teams were formed and after scrutiny, they zeroed-in on around 200 white Mercedes registered in such areas. Around 50 authorised and local service stations were alerted too.
“We learnt about a white Mercedes in nearby Raj Nagar, which was not there on our list. The team visited the address and found the car as well as its owner’s son Nakul Dabas missing since Sunday,” a police officer said.
The questioning of Dabas’s family and friends confirmed his involvement in the accident, said police.