Speeding SUV runs amok, leaves 2 dead in Delhi's Malai Mandir area

NEW DELHI: Two persons, including a teenaged boy, were killed when an SUV crashed into them in southwest Delhi's Malai Mandir area on Wednesday night. The driver of the vehicle first hit a Ciaz car parked on the road before hitting a pole and then losing control.
The Thar hit another hatchback and finally rammed into three fruit carts and people on the roadside. Around 25 people had to physically lift the car to remove the injured persons from beneath it.

One of the deceased, Munna Mahto, is survived by his pregnant wife and a two-year-old daughter. The second was a 15-year-old Sameer, whose father and two siblings were also injured. Police arrested Ajay Kumar Yadav, 39, and cook Chij Bahadur, 40, both of whom work for the SUV owner. A case for rash and negligent driving and death due to negligence has been registered against them at Vasant Vihar police station.
According to police, on Wednesday around 7.30pm people reached the accident site to find three vehicles that had been damaged. "On enquiry, we learnt that the accident had been caused by the Thar. Eight people, who were residents of Shiva Camp and Ekta Vihar in RK Puram, were injured and have been taken to AIIMS Trauma Centre. Munna and Sameer succumbed to their injuries during treatment in hospital," said Manoj C, DCP (South-West).
Police said the owner of the Thar is a business analyst who had gone out of station. Yadav and Bahadur took out the car for a joyride. The duo was found intoxicated at the time of the accident and liquor bottles were recovered from the SUV. Prima facie, Yadav was behind the wheel and could not control the vehicle due to excess speeding and rammed into the two cars before crashing into the fruit carts and people standing nearby.
Sameer's family said around 30 people had to manually lift the car to remove the teenager and other people caught under it. "Sameer was going to study at the mosque when the incident took place. His father, Bhure, had a fruit cart there and his sisters, Suhani and Ilma, were also present," said Tasdik, the teenager's uncle. "Apart from Sameer's mother, all members of the family are in the hospital. Ilma is still unconscious. Sameer's cousin, Sohail, too was injured. The cart and its contents were destroyed in the accident."
Speaking to TOI, Sohail, who sustained a fracture and other injuries, said, "I was standing near my cart when the Thar hit the pole in the middle of the road. Before I could react, it came straight at me. I tried to run, but the car hit me and then many other people. Some got stuck under it. It all happened in less than a minute."
Mahto's family is angst-ridden about how his pregnant wife and his two-year old daughter will survive now. Sunil, Mahto's elder brother, said their mother lives in Chapra district in Bihar. "My brother works in a grocery store and had stepped out of his room to use the urinal when he was hit by the car," said Sunil. "He had come to Delhi around seven years ago and earned a monthly salary of Rs 7,000-8,000. His wife is pregnant, and their child is still a kid." The family strongly feel that the deceased man's wife must be compensated for the grievous loss so that she can have some way to plan for her and her daughter's future.