Gurgaon: The owner of the SUV that hurtled over a divider and fatally injured finance executive Alok Gupta in the Cyber City area has been arrested. A juvenile, who was a co-passenger in the vehicle at the time of the accident, has also been detained.
Gupta (49) was on his way to Noida on August 23 when a Ford Ecosport, in which two juveniles were travelling, crashed into his Harley Davidson bike, killing him on the spot. The teenagers were allegedly under the influence of alcohol and had taken out the SUV for a fun ride after a party at its owner’s house on Golf Course Extension Road. The accident had led to calls for a tough crackdown on minor drivers, with Gupta’s family and friends leading several demonstrations seeking tougher laws to act as deterrents.
On Tuesday evening, Dhiraj Taneja, the Ecosport’s owner and a friend of the juvenile driver’s father, was arrested and charged under Section 109 (abetment) of the IPC and Section 77 (giving intoxicating liquor or narcotic drug or psychotropic substances to a child) of the Juvenile Justice Act at the DLF Phase-2 police station and sent to judicial custody.
The juvenile co-passenger, who was detained on Wednesday morning, was produced before the juvenile board and sent to a correction home. He has been booked under IPC Section 304(2) and relevant sections of the JJ Act. Police spokesperson Subhash Boken said both the vehicle owner and the minor were taken into custody under non-bailable sections.
The minor driver was apprehended earlier and is in a correction home. He was initially booked under IPC sections 279 (rash driving) and 304A (negligence causing death). Later, police had also booked Taneja under Section 184 of the Motor Vehicles Act. However, they were released on bail soon afterwards.
Unhappy with police for not taking strict action, Gupta’s friends and family members had demanded the teenager who was at the wheel be booked under the more stringent Section 304(II) (rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide) of the IPC and also wanted an FIR against the juveniles’ parents.
Following this, sections 309 and 304(II) of the IPC and sections of the JJ Act were added. On November 10, DLF Phase-2 police station SHO Aman Beniwal and assistant sub-inspector Hariom, the investigation officer of the case, were suspended for shoddy investigation.