Man absconding in hit-and-run case arrested in Delhi

A man who had been on the run for the past 10 days after hitting a 16-year-old boy with his speeding car in northwest Delhi's Rohini was arrested in the city, police said on Sunday. The incident took place on July 23 near Palm City Society. The accused, Sandeep Singh, was arrested on Saturday, they said.

Singh owns a few farms and other properties in Haryana and NCR region, the police said. According to a complaint lodged by the victim's cousin brother, Harshit (22), he and Ajar Mehra were out on July 23 and their scooter broke down around 11 pm, they said.

Mehra was pushing the scooter down the road and Harshit was walking with him when a speeding Audi hit the two-wheeler from behind, severely injuring the teenager, they said.

Harshit alleged that the accused stopped the car for a moment and briefly stepped out of the vehicle before fleeing the spot. The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died, they added.

DCP (Rohini) P K Mishra said the vehicle of the accused was identified as its logo and number plate fell on the road during the accident.

"Though we recovered the car from Rohini after a few days, the owner couldn't be identified because the vehicle was registered in the name of a construction company in Telangana," he said.

"Later, it was learnt that the owner had sold the vehicle," he added.

During investigation, the Delhi Police took help from its Telangana counterparts to identify the owner of the car. During questioning, the car owner told police that he sold it in August last year, the officer said.

It was found that the car was bought by Singh along with a friend. But since his friend couldn't pay his share of the amount, Singh took the car, he said.

On contacting Singh's friend, police learnt that the accused lived in Bahadurgarh in Haryana. Singh's friend was asked to call him to Delhi, following which he was arrested, the police said.

Singh told police that on the night of the incident, he lost control while speeding and hit the boy. He was scared and left his car near the accident spot before fleeing to his hometown, they said.