Gzb: 3 women killed after car crashes into morning walkers

A fourth member of the group, Vipin Sharma, 50, from nearby Shyam Vihar Colony, escaped with minor injuries.

Three women were killed and a man was injured after a speeding car ploughed into a group of morning walkers at the T-point of GT Road near Rakesh Marg in Ghaziabad on Saturday.

Mangled remains of the car after the accident. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The victims—Meenu Prajapati, 56, Savitri Devi, 62, and Kamlesh Devi, 55, all from the New Kot Gaon locality—had left their homes around 5am for what relatives said was their daily ritual.

A fourth member of the group, Vipin Sharma, 50, from nearby Shyam Vihar Colony, escaped with minor injuries after being struck sideways by the vehicle’s rather than taking the full impact.

Police have identified the driver as Diranjul Sharma, 35, a resident of Nehru Nagar who owns a construction firm. He was returning from Bulandshahr where he had been overseeing the construction work until late into the night.

Sharma was also injured during the incident and is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital. “He will be arrested once he gets discharged. We will try to get the required tests done on him,” Upasana pandey, additional commissioner of police for the Nandgram circle, said.

The incident, which occurred around 5.15am under the jurisdiction of the Sihani Gate police station, was captured on CCTV cameras—footage that has since circulated on social media, though HT could not independently verify its authenticity.

The grainy video shows the three women and Sharma crossing the left carriageway and pausing at the central verge for traffic before crossing the rest of the road. As a procession of vehicles passes, the Toyota Glanza veers from its path and slams into the group at high speed, the impact sending them sprawling.

“The car was speeding, and it rammed into the four persons standing near the central verge of the T-point area,” ACP Pandey said. Two of the women, Meenu and Savitri, were declared dead on arrival at MMG district hospital, while Kamlesh succumbed during treatment at another facility.

The vehicle, seized by police, bore severe damage to its front end.

Sachin Kumar, station house officer at Sihani Gate, said CCTV footage suggests the driver may have momentarily dozed off.

DCP (city) Dhawal Jaiswal separately confirmed the driver’s identity as Diranjul Sharma.

An FIR has been lodged under sections 281 (rash driving on a public way), 125b (endangering life or personal safety), and 106(1) (causing death by negligence), based on complaints filed by the victims’ families and the vehicle’s registration details.

Devender Prajapati, whose mother Meenu was among the dead, recalled receiving a call about the accident around 5.15am. “They would regularly go out for a morning walk and would return in about an hour,” he said. By the time he reached the scene, his mother and Savitri had already been loaded into an ambulance.

The families said the driver fled without rendering assistance. “The driver had fled and he did not bother to help out the injured,” Devender said.

Shubham Kumar, grandson of Savitri Devi, echoed the family’s demand for stringent punishment. “Two women, including my grandmother, were not breathing” when he arrived at the scene, he said. “Neighbours in our locality are shocked. No one thought that a morning walk would end up in three deaths. The driver needs to be punished in a strict manner.”

Hundreds of locals from Kot Garon arrived and blocked the GT Road for over an hour, demanding strict action against the car driver. The crowd was later dispersed, police said.