Senior finance ministry official Navjot Singh, who was killed in a BMW crash near Dhaula Kuan in New Delhi, was cremated on Tuesday in the presence of family members and relatives, even as police said the blood sample of the main accused, Gaganpreet, has tested negative for alcohol.
Singh's body was first taken to the Venkateshwar Hospital in Dwarka, where his wife is undergoing treatment for multiple injuries sustained in the accident. After the family members paid their respects at the hospital, the body was brought to his Hari Nagar residence and later, taken for the last rites.
Singh (52), a deputy secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, was killed on Sunday afternoon when his motorcycle was hit by a BMW car while he was returning from the Bangla Sahib Gurdwara with his wife. While Singh died, his wife was seriously injured in the incident.
Police said Gaganpreet, who was driving the car, had her husband, two children and a maid as passengers at the time of the accident. The family from Gurugram is engaged in the manufacturing business. They too sustained injuries and were taken to a hospital after the crash.
According to police, Gaganpreet's blood test report has come out negative for alcohol consumption. She was arrested on Monday after being discharged from the hospital and was later remanded in judicial custody for two days by a city court.
A case has been registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 281 (rash driving), 125B (endangering life or personal safety of others), 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence).
Police said they added sections relating to culpable homicide not amounting to murder and causing disappearance of evidence as the accused and her husband decided to take Singh and his wife, Sandeep Kaur, to a hospital more than 19 km away from Dhaula Kuan, where the incident took place.
Furthermore, they also did not make a single PCR call to alert the police, he added.
"They themselves decided to take the couple to Nulife Hospital, more than 19 km away from the accident site and did not provide them medical care at the earliest despite the presence of big hospitals nearby,” a senior police officer said.
“The couple also did not make any PCR call regarding the accident and did not prompt police, who could have offered assistance or taken them to a nearby hospital. Thus, we have invoked sections 105 and 238 apart from 281 and 125 B,” he added.
In her statement to police, Sandeep Kaur said she had repeatedly pleaded with the accused couple -- Gaganpreet Kaur and Parikshit -- to take them to the nearest hospital as her husband was unconscious and needed immediate treatment.
"Instead, the lady took us to a small hospital in GTB Nagar, more than 19 km away. That lady told me her name was Gaganpreet Kaur," she said.
The collision took place near the Delhi Cantonment metro station, an area that witnesses heavy vehicular movement. The impact left Singh fatally injured, while his wife was rushed to a hospital in a critical condition about 19 kilometres from the accidental site.
Meanwhile, police said during interrogation, Gaganpreet told investigators that she was in a state of panic after the crash and could not recall how it happened.
When questioned why she did not take the injured couple to a nearby hospital, she claimed that she panicked and was familiar with Nulife Hospital as her children had been treated there during the COVID-19 pandemic, the officer added.
However, police sources said that the hospital is owned by the relatives of the accused couple.
Police said further investigation is underway to ascertain the sequence of events leading to the accident, including whether reckless driving was involved. They are also examining the CCTV footage collected from the stretch of the road and eyewitness accounts.
Meanwhile, police sources said Gaganpreet's husband, Parikshit, has been referred to another hospital.
"He was referred to a specialised orthopaedic hospital due to a nasal-bone injury. We will also question Parikshit after he is discharged from the hospital," a source said.
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