SURAT: A well-known bakery chain owner was arrested on Saturday for knocking down two persons with his SUV on U M Road in Surat on Friday night. One of the persons injured in the accident, 29-year-old Urvashi Chaudhary, died before reaching the hospital.
Police arrested Atul Vekariya, owner of Atul Bakery, for allegedly causing the death of Chaudhary, who works as a clerk at the Veer Narmad South Gujarat University (VNSGU). Vekariya was also suspected to be driving under the influence of alcohol said police. He was released on bail on Saturday evening. Vekariya’s blood samples were sent for testing to confirm if he was drunk when he knocked down the two vehicles. Based on a complaint by Chaudhary’s brother Niraj, police booked Vekariya under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including 304 A (causing death by negligence), 337 (causing hurt by negligent act), 338 (causing grievous hurt by negligent act) and 279 (rash driving). According to police, on Friday at around 8.30 pm Vekariya was coming from VNSGU at high speed in his SUV. He knocked down two scooters soon after losing control of the vehicle at a speed-breaker. The deceased Chaudhary was sitting on one of the parked scooters, waiting for her brother to get food from a road-side eatery.
Chaudhary was taken to a nearby hospital where she was declared dead on arrival. A police team that was nearby, detained Vekariya immediately. Videos and photos of the incident went viral on social media soon after the accident.
“It looks like Vekariya was drunk. We have collected his blood samples and sent it for testing,” said a police officer from Umra police station.