By IANS,
New Delhi : Anuj Aditya Singh, who was critically injured after a speeding BMW car driven by an industrialist’s son hit the motorcycle he was riding, died here Saturday – in a chilling reminder of another accident nine years ago that came to be known as the BMW case.
“Anuj died this morning. We will follow the case,” the victim’s uncle Tejas Chauhan told IANS.
The body of the 25-year-old victim was taken to his house in Ghaziabad where a number of relatives and local residents had gathered. The family then took the body to Garh Mukteshwar for cremation.
Singh’s family is now demanding that the accused, 18-year-old Utsav Bhasin, who was arrested a day after Thursday’s accident and given bail, be put behind bars again.
Anuj’s grieving mother said: “Had there been any sign of empathy or apology from the accused’s end, we would have weighed the circumstances differently.”
She said before Utsav, she wants his father, industrialist Narendra Kumar Bhasin, to be arrested and punished for giving his young son a car that he was driving recklessly.
The accident came close on the heels of a verdict in another infamous case involving a BMW car in which the accused, also hailing from an influential family and who had mowed down six people, was sentenced to five years in jail.
Anuj, whose cervical spine and brain stem were badly damaged in the accident, was placed on a life support system Friday morning.
A close friend of Anuj’s said: “No one has even cared to contact Anuj’s family yet. They are for sure going to press for severe punishment for Utsav, who reportedly enjoys fast driving,” said.
Anuj was returning home with his friend Mrigank Srivastav after seeing a movie when the BMW driven by Utsav rammed into their Pulsar motorbike near Moolchand flyover early Thursday. Anuj was riding pillion.
Police said the car was speeding and Utsav drove recklessly under the influence of alcohol. He holds a valid driving licence.
A police control room (PCR) van rushed Anuj and Mrigank to the Trauma Centre of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The latter, who was driving the bike, landed on his head, fractured his right leg and was badly bruised all over. He is currently recuperating in the hospital.
Utsav was arrested Friday from the Inter State Bus Terminus at Kashmiri Gate while trying to go to Chandigarh.
He was let off on two bail sureties of Rs.20,000 each from the Lajpat Nagar police station, where a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 279 (rash and negligent driving) and 337 (causing hurt and endangering life) was registered against him.
The car is registered in the name of Golden Rolls Private Limited of Sonepat and is owned by Narendra Kumar Bhasin.