Five died, one injured in Gurugram Thar crash

The black Thar, with Aligarh registration number, captured travelling at over 100kmph in one traffic camera prior to the crash, suddenly veered off course at exit nine on the Jaipur-bound carriageway at 4.25am

Five people died and one was critically injured when their speeding Thar slammed struck a crash barrier and rolled several times before coming to rest on the Delhi-Jaipur expressway near Jharsa Chowk early on Saturday, police said.

The wrecked black Mahindra Thar. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

The black Thar, with Aligarh registration number, captured travelling at over 100kmph in one traffic camera prior to the crash, suddenly veered off course at exit nine on the Jaipur-bound carriageway at 4.25am, CCTV footage from the Gurugram traffic police’s integrated command and control centre showed.

The victims included three men and three women – the youngest being 21 and the oldest 31 – were returning from a nightclub in Sector 30 to their respective hostels and rented accommodations in Greater Noida when the accident occurred.

“The accident appears to be the result of speeding and drunk driving. All six had gone to the nightclub for a weekend party,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Rajesh Mohan, who visited the spot.

Blood and viscera samples of all the five deceased have been preserved for forensic analysis. The reports will make it clear if the driver and the occupants were drunk at the time of the crash, police said.

“After the car flipped over the first time, it skidded and rammed and struck a concrete barrier, causing it to roll over multiple times again,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Rajesh Mohan, who visited the spot.

Police identified the victims as Pratishtha Mishra, 25, from Rae Bareli; Lavanya Singh, 26, from Shastri Puram; Aditya Pratap Singh, 24, from Agra; Aditi Soni alias Jyoti, 21, from Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar; and Gautam Saini, 31, from Sonipat’s Mohana — all of them died from severe head injuries.

The survivor was identified as Kapil Sharma, 28, from Bulandshahr, who remained critically injured. Sharma is able to talk, though he doesn’t remember anything about the accident, probably due to shock, an official said.

Four victims died instantly while Sharma and Mishra were rushed to a private hospital in Sector 38. Mishra succumbed to her injuries during treatment.

An investigator who asked not to be named said vehicle was clocked travelling at 102kmph near Iffco Chowk at 2.05am while the group was heading to the club. The vehicle maintained high speeds of nearly 100kmph at the time of the accident after overtaking other vehicles quickly.

Inspector Lalit Singh, station house officer of Sector 40 police station, said Saini was driving with Singh seated beside him, while the other four were in the rear seat.

“Such was the impact that the Thar’s debris was scattered 150 metres ahead of where the vehicle finally came to rest,” Singh said.

The inspector said that prima facie, there appeared to be confusion inside the speeding vehicle over exiting the expressway for returning towards Greater Noida. “There were tyre marks just before the accident spot as the driver had slammed the brakes to slow down, either to exit or to continue on the expressway, which resulted in the Thar flipping over and causing the ghastly accident,” he said.

Commuters alerted the police control room about the accident, after which emergency response vehicles were pressed into action.

The SUV belonged to a person police identified as Vishnu of Aligarh but was being used by his friend Uday Kumar in Greater Noida. Saini borrowed the vehicle from Kumar for the night out with the five others. Saini and Soni were friends, while Sharma was friends with Mishra and Pal.

Police said call detail records will clarify who had contacted whom and when for the party.

Among the victims, Mishra and Pal were second-year law students at a private college in Greater Noida, while Soni was pursuing a second-year BA from Ramanujan College in Kalkaji and was doing a digital marketing course from Greater Noida. Saini worked for a South Korean mobile phone manufacturer in Noida, Singh was also an engineer, and Sharma worked for a separate private firm.

Mishra’s father is an additional principal judge in Rae Bareli, Singh’s father works as a stenographer for a judge in Agra, and Saini’s father is involved in farming. Pal’s father is an ITBP inspector posted in Sikkim, Sharma’s father is a sub-inspector in Uttar Pradesh police whilst Soni’s father is in a private job.