New Delhi: Senior Union Finance Ministry official Navjot Singh died in a road accident in southwest Delhi on Sunday, while his wife Sandeep Kaur was seriously injured. Navjot Singh and his wife were riding a motorcycle when a BMW hit their motorcycle.
The couple was returning home from Gurdwara Bangla Sahib when the accident took place near Dhaula Kuan Metro Station. Meanwhile, Delhi Police arrested the accused Gaganpreet on Monday afternoon. Gaganpreet Kaur was allegedly driving the BMW car that hit the bike rider Navjot Singh and his wife.
Gaganpreet, who also suffered minor injuries in the accident, was admitted to Nulife Hospital in Mukherjee Nagar in north Delhi and was taken into custody after being discharged. The police have already registered a case of culpable homicide against him.
Navjot Singh, a resident of Hari Nagar, was the Deputy Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs in the Finance Ministry. Meanwhile, the couple's son Navnoor Singh has questioned the admission of his injured parents to a hospital 22 km away after the accident. Singh claimed that the hospital where his parents were admitted is that of the woman driving the BMW.
Navnoor Singh said that his father's life could have been saved if he had been taken to a hospital near the accident site instead of a hospital 20 km away, where there were no proper facilities for treatment. Navnur Singh told ANI, “I got a call from a family friend who informed me about the accident and told me that my parents are admitted to New Life Hospital in GTB Nagar.”
He added, “The accident happened on Sunday afternoon around 1 or 1:30 pm, a girl was driving a BMW which hit my parents’ motorcycle. Something must have gone wrong, but they were taken to a hospital 20 km away, where there were no facilities…
My father was declared dead at the hospital, but people there said that deaths immediately after an accident are very rare… There are many super-specialty hospitals near Dhaula Kuan and AIIMS, if they had been sent there, they could have been saved.” Navnur said that New Life Hospital in GTB Nagar belongs to the same girl who was driving the BMW at the time of the accident.
According to the police, the FIR mentions sections 281 (Rash or careless driving or riding which endangers human life), 125 B (Anyone who recklessly endangers human life or safety - whether or not damage is caused), 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 238 (wilfully concealing evidence or providing false information to save the offender) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Meanwhile, the forensic and police teams inspected the damaged vehicles and the accident site. The police said that the alleged female driver and her husband are still admitted to the hospital. They are in the business of making horse leather saddles, seats, covers, belts etc.