‘Drunk’ driver dies in car crash, friend safe as he takes a bus ride

They (Lalit Kumar and Dinesh) had barely left for their homes when Kumar (the victim) said he wanted to drink more. Since the alcohol shops in Delhi were closed , they drove to Haryana and drank together. RISHI PAL, DCP (Rohini)

30-year-old allegedly drunk man was killed in a car crash in outer Delhi’s Alipur on Monday night.

His friend had a providential escape as he refused to be driven by a drunk man and took a bus instead, the police said.

Driving his Honda City alone, Lalit Kumar apparently lost control of the car on the GT Road, a few hundred metres from his in-laws’ village in Tikri.

Kumar and his friend Dinesh, who goes by his first name, had on Monday visited Kumar’s in-laws’ home located along the Delhi-Haryana border.

“They had barely left for their homes when Kumar said he wanted to drink more. Since the wine shops in Delhi were closed by that time, they drove across the border to Haryana and drank together,” said Rishi Pal, DCP (Rohini).

But when it was time to leave, Dinesh allegedly chose to take a bus back home instead of being driven by Kumar, who was “heavily drunk” by then.

Kumar was a parking contractor who lived in a slum near Police Colony in south Delhi’s Andrews Ganj. Dinesh lives in Dwarka Mor and works as a valet parking driver.

According to the DCP, the two friends were already drunk by Monday evening when they decided to return to their homes.

One of Kumar’s relatives told a news channel that the family had requested him not to drive home drunk but he had ignored their requests.

“The evidence suggests that the car first hit a divider before crashing through a short wall on the left of the road,” said Pal.

The car turned turtle after falling into the low-lying area alongside the GT Road.

At 12.50am, a PCR van passing by spotted the car. Since Kumar was trapped inside, help was sought from the fire department to pull him out.

He was rushed to a hospital where he was declared brought dead, the police said.

Since Kumar’s family informed that he was accompanied by Dinesh in the car, the police began a search for the missing man near the accident spot over the next few hours.

It was in the early hours of Tuesday that the police realised that Dinesh was sleeping safe at his home.