NOIDA: After a 48-hour search that involved scanning around 400 CCTV camera clips, police traced the Audi that mowed down a 64-year-old retired staffer of All India Radio in Sector 53 on Sunday to the parking area of NBCC (National Buildings Construction Corporation) office in Delhi’s Kidwai Nagar.
A 24-year-old man – Luv Kumar – who was driving the car when the accident occurred near Kanchanjunga market was arrested on Tuesday evening. Prince Kumar, his friend who was in the Audi with him, was picked up too.
The owner of the Audi – registered in Gurgaon – is a businessman named Pramod Kumar. He is originally from Palamu in Jharkhand, police said. Luv, according to cops, is his brother-in-law.
Early on Sunday morning, Luv and Prince had visited Noida for coffee. They were on their way back to Delhi when they lost their way, a police officer said. They switched on Google Maps and were on their way to Kalindi Kunj when they ploughed into Janak Dev Shah, a retired Group D employee of All India Radio.
The car was believed to be speeding at 100kmph when the accident occurred around 6.30am. Shah, who was out to buy milk when the white Audi crashed into him from behind, was flung in the air and landed some 20m ahead on the road as the Audi sped past him, almost crushing his legs under the rear wheels.
Following a complaint by Shah’s son, an FIR was registered against the car driver under sections 304A (causing death by negligence) and 279 (rash driving) of the Indian Penal Code.
Police said they were trying to find out how the Audi entered the NBCC compound, which is a guarded area.
The cops had said on Monday that the car might have taken the Maharaja Agrasen Marg – which runs below the Noida elevated road – to escape to Delhi after the accident. Seven teams were working in tandem to trace the Audi.
“We formed seven teams to trace the car. They scanned some 400 clips from CCTV cameras placed at 150 locations in Delhi and Noida,” said Manish Mishra, additional DCP. “After we pieced together the different footage, we managed to trace the car to the parking area of the NBCC building in Kidwai Nagar,” he added.
Shah’s family members said he would go out for morning walks daily and return with milk. “On Sunday morning too, he left home saying he would be back in half an hour. A few minutes later, we got a call from a neighbour who informed us about his accident near Kanchanjunga market. When we reached the spot, he was already taken to a hospital. But doctors could not save him,” said Sandeep, his son.
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