A 43-year-old man died after he was allegedly run over by a Mahindra Thar during an altercation at Sector 12 in Faridabad, police said Tuesday. Four persons have been apprehended.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Usha Devi said that the car was registered in the name of Faridabad Additional Commissioner of Police (Sarai) Rajesh Kumar Lohan and that his son was among those apprehended. Police did not identify those arrested.
Lohan did not respond to queries seeking comment.
The victim has been identified as Manoj Kumar.
According to the complaint filed by his younger brother, Vicky Kumar (40), the incident occurred around 1 am on September 22, when Manoj and six of his friends were returning from a visit to a temple in Vrindavan.
While he and three others were in a car, two of his friends, Navdeep and Aman, were riding a motorcycle. When they reached a road near Sector 13, a Thar hit the bike. The motorcycle riders stopped, and the Thar halted a short distance ahead.
According to the complaint, as Navdeep and Aman approached the vehicle, a passenger allegedly abused them and asked what they were looking at.
The duo then got back on the bike and rode towards Ballabgarh, but the Thar overtook them, with the driver abusing them again. The FIR noted one of the occupants in the Thar said, “Still looking at us? Hit him directly.”
The Thar then turned towards a convention hall at Sector 12, where Navdeep and Aman stopped. Manoj and his other friends — Anil Rana, Pravesh, Rahul, and Shivam — arrived by then.
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The complaint claimed that the Thar driver was “doing stunts with his vehicle” at the time. When Manoj and his friends got out, the driver allegedly drove the car towards them, forcing them to scatter. But Manoj was struck directly and run over and the Thar’s occupants drove away.
Manoj was rushed to Metro Hospital in Sector 16A, where he succumbed to injuries at 3.50 pm on Monday. Prior to that, police deemed him unfit to give a statement. The FIR was initially filed at the Faridabad Central Station on September 22 under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Around 11 am the same day, the section was changed to 103 (murder), police said.
At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Usha Devi said four men have been apprehended and are being questioned in connection with the matter. On the identity of the four, she said more details will be shared later. She also rejected allegations that police are going slow on the matter.
“We nabbed them the same day and agreed to change the section in the FIR to 103 (murder) yesterday. The latter is not usually done in such (accident) cases. We will swiftly and strictly proceed as per law. We are looking at CCTV footage and call detail records,” the DCP said.
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Speaking with The Indian Express, Vicky, a commission agent at a mandi, said his elder brother was married with two children. “He was a property dealer and essentially ran our household. His daughter is 17 and his son 15. Who will take care of them now?… We are worried. I also have children.”
Their father passed away some time ago, while their mother lives with them.
He said he and his cousin received information of the incident from Manoj’s friends around 5.50 am. While the post-mortem has been done, the body remains at the Civil Hospital.
“We will not carry out his last rites till the accused are formally arrested and identified. My brother’s children should be assured government jobs upon becoming adults,” said Vicky.
