In a tragic accident, five national-level powerlifters, including a world champion, were killed after their Swift Dzire car in which they were travelling hit the divider near Singhu Border in outer Delhi’s Alipur in the wee hours of Sunday, police said.
One of their friends is battling for life.
The driver lost control over the speeding vehicle that first hit a divider and then a pole and the impact was so intense that the car ceiling came off, resembling a mangled heap while occupants were flung 50 metres from the vehicle, said police.
Police said they suspect drunk driving to be the main cause behind the accident as liquor bottles were found inside the car. The deceased have been identified as Tikam Chand (27), Saurabh (18), Yogesh (24) and Harish Roy (20), Saksham Yadav (28), while Rohit (25) has sustained life-threatening injures.
Saksham, who represented India at the World Championship in powerlifting in Europe last year in June and had won a Gold Medal and had also participated in the Russian Championship last year in October, was admitted to AIIMS Trauma Centre where he succumbed to his injuries at 6:38 pm, said a senior doctor at the Trauma Centre.
A senior police officer said, “The car belonged to Saksham’s sister. Since it was Tikam’s birthday, they all had planned to go to Murthal to eat parathas. After Saksham got free from an event in Rajouri garden, they took his sister’s car and left.” Tikam was a national level powerlifter, said relatives of Chand. On the other hand, Yogesh was set to tie the nuptial knot in February, said his relatives.
Folded banners of Saksham’s gold medal feat were found inside the car, which had a ‘Ministry of Defence’ sticker. The car also had an ‘l’ or learner’s board on its windscreen, said eyewitnesses.
The officer said all the six people were headed to Murthal through the Delhi-Chandigarh flyover when their car lost balance and toppled over several times before coming to a screeching halt.
DCP (Rohini) Rajneesh Gupta said the injured were rushed to the Raja Harishchandra Hospital in Narela. later, some of them were transferred to different hospitals in the city for better treatment.
Police said they are yet to ascertain who was behind the wheels at the time of the accident. “We are waiting for the injured to gain consciousness. As per the preliminary investigation, we found that the speed of the car was very high,” said the DCP.
As per the claims of one of their common friends, Rahul Minocha, who got down from the ill-fated car an hour or so before the accident, said, “It was Rohit’s birthday. They all had planned to go to Panipat to celebrate it.”
While Tikam used to work as a bouncer, Saurabh was a helper in a gym. Yogesh was a private video camera operator and Harish was a student. Saksham was into powerlifting and Rohit was a helper in a gym. Out of all the six, Tikam, Saurabh, Rohit and Yogesh used to practice powerlifting.
Families of the five deceased were at the mortuary of the Babu Jag Jivan Ram Hospital in Jahangirpuri, while Saksham’s family was at the AIIMS Trauma Centre. Police officials said autopsy on Saksham’s body will be performed on Monday.
An FIR has been registered at Alipur police station and investigation has begun, they said.