Five held in Noida road rage case; victim’s condition remains critical
NOIDA: Gautam Budh Nagar Police arrested five people on Sunday for allegedly running over a man after an altercation on the Noida-greater Noida Expressway early Saturday. The victim, Divakar Motwani (28), is being treated for a brain haemorrhage and other grievous injuries at the intensive care unit (ICU) of Kailash Hospital, police said.
Police said the suspects, identified as Naveen Awana (driver), Surya Bhatia, Abhinav Sehgal, Nitish Gupta and Vijyant Bhati, all residents of Noida, fled after the incident but were arrested on the basis of footage from CCTV cameras in the area.
“From the information we have so far, passengers of two cars were involved in an altercation near the Mahamaya Flyover, after a rashly driven i20 car hit rammed another. The passengers of the i20 car deliberately tried to run over one of the passengers of the other car. The i20 was being driven by one Naveen. We have arrested him and four others,” said Ankita Sharma, assistant commissioner of police, Noida 1.
Around 1.30am on Saturday, Divakar, a resident of Sector 20 in Noida, left for Sonipat along with his two friends. According to details gathered from the CCTV footage that has now gone viral on social media websites, a white i20 car rammed his vehicle from behind. He stopped his car and alighted, and got into an argument with the five people who were travelling in the i20. All the occupants of the i20 got into a scuffle with Divakar. After a while, they got back into their car and ran over him.
A case under sections 147 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 279 (rash driving), 338 (causing grievous hurt by an act of endangering life) and 427
(mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was initially registered against the suspects. The police said that Section 307 (attempt to murder) has also been added to the case.
Meanwhile, Divakar’s family has started an online campaign seeking justice for him.
“The CCTV footage is horrendous. We couldn’t believe that some people actually tried to mercilessly kill my brother in cold blood. These people intentionally hit Divakar with full force and left without any remorse,” said Shalini, Divakar’s sister.
After completing his graduation and an online course in digital marketing, Divakar started his own business in electronics and digital marketing a couple of years ago. “Divakar had just started his professional life. He was working extremely hard to establish his electronics business,” said Bhagwan Motwani, Divakar’s father.
“I am grateful that the Noida police arrested the suspects,” Motwani added.
We couldn’t believe that some people actually tried to mercilessly kill my brother in cold blood. They left without remorse. SHALINI,
Divakar’s sister
The passengers of the i20 car deliberately tried to run over one of the passengers of the other car. We have arrested all five. ANKITA SHARMA, assistant commissioner of police, Noida 1