Chandigarh Police yet to arrest drivers in 178 fatal accident cases in five years

“At least one year has gone by, but there is no clue to the unknown driver. The matter is still gathering dust in police files,” said Sandeep Kumar, son of victim, Sunita Rani.

Vishal Balaan, 25, of Sector 38 West, was riding his motorcycle when an unknown SUV hit and dragged him to death near Sector 25/38 light point on September 20, 2021. The motorcyclist, who had a daughter, was killed a few metres behind a police naka. An FIR was lodged.

“Almost five months have passed, but police have failed to get any clue despite the fact that there are CCTV cameras at the light point. Moreover, we were shocked to learn that a routine police naka was set up near the accident site. Despite it, nobody noticed the killer vehicle,” said Ramesh Kumar, father of the victim.

A white unknown car hit and killed 10-year-old Sakshi near Hallomajra light point on Dakshin Marg on June 2, 2019.

“Almost three years have passed since the death of my daughter. I have yet to learn about the vehicle which killed my daughter. I have given up the hope that the driver will be arrested anytime,” said Sikander, Sakshi’s father and a daily wager.

The cases of Raj Kumari, Vishal Balaan and Sakshi are among at least 178 fatal road accidents in which people lost their lives but the Chandigarh Police could not trace the unknown drivers in the last five years, reveals the reply to an application filed by The Indian Express under the RTI Act.

The detailed reply stated, “A total 548 human lives were lost in the road accidents between January 2015 and September 2021. A total 299 FIRs were registered in connection with fatal casualties in which unknown vehicles/drivers were involved. In at least 178 FIRs out of 299, unknown drivers are yet to be traced/ arrested.”

The reply was provided from the offices of SDPO (central), SDPO (east) and SDPO (south). A partial reply was provided by the UT traffic police, which independently analyzes each road accident in Chandigarh.

Pedestrians, cylists, two-wheeler riders and cart pullers constituted the majority of the victims who lost their lives in the road accidents between 2015 and 2021. Many of the fatal road accident cases in which drivers are yet to be arrested were sent untraced or pending for further investigation.

“My father, Dilip Kumar Yadav, was killed after being hit by an unknown vehicle near Raipur Khurd village, Zirakpur, on December 9, 2019. He was riding his Activa scooter. I have no idea about the police investigation. For me, the last is closed. In the event of something happening, cops must have contacted me,” said Vinod Yadav of Raipur Khurd, son of victim Dilip Yadav.

A case was registered at Mauli Jagran police station.

As many as 102 out of 178 cases were registered in the southern division of Chandigarh Police. A total of 54 cases were registered in the east police division and cases were registered in the Central police division.

A policeman requesting anonymity said, “Various reasons are behind it. First: The absence of witnesses, independent witnesses. Second: Two years back, the network of CCTV cameras was not too strong compared to the present time.”

‘We take all road accidents seriously’

SP (city) Ketan Bansal said, “Repeated instructions were issued to look into the fatal road accident cases, in which drivers are yet to be arrested. These cases are on our priority list. If unsolved cases are here, there are many cases also in which unknown vehicles were later traced and drivers were arrested. We take all the road accidents, especially in which people lost their lives, seriously. CCTV cameras, testimony of the witnesses played a crucial role in the investigation of these cases.”