Ten days after an Audi Q7 hit an autorickshaw in Ghaziabad killing four people, Ghaziabad police on Monday issued a notice to Dr Manish Rawat, owner of the Audi Car involved in the accident, to join the probe. Dr Rawat who works with Safrdarjung Hospital is alleged to have been playing hooky with the police.
Facing the heat from the police, Dr Rawat spoke to the media and explained his stance on the whole issue. He said he was going to his house in Vasundhara from Safdarjung and dosed of during the journey. However, Rawat woke up when he felt the car ramming into something. He saw his driver fleeing the spot and went outside to check.
According to Dr Rawat, he panicked after seeing people gather around the disfigured auto and he too decided to flee the spot, as people would think he was behind the wheels. He reportedly took a lift from a person who was standing nearby who dropped off at a nearby shopping mall. From there he took an auto to reach his house at Vasundhara.
“After the accident my cell phone was broken. However, I went to my home and then tried to look for my driver but couldn’t find him. I was in such a mental trauma that I couldn’t approach cops,” Rawat said.
“After learning from the media, I joined the investigation. I verified his driving licence so I knew his address wasn’t fake. It was an accident. I’m hurt but couldn’t do anything. My driver doesn’t drink. I don’t know about rest of the thing. I will meet the family members,” he added.
The whole episode has become a convoluted blame game, where the accused driver Ishaq Ahmed has denied all allegations, saying that that he was not involved in the case, also claiming that his documents were misused. He even said that he does not know Dr Manish Rawat.
The driver of the Audi Ishaq Ahmed said, "I was not driving the car and would say the same in front of the court."
Ahmed even said that on the day of the incident he was loading his vehicle in the factory in Ahmedabad.
Another mysterious person, who identified himself as Ishaq Ahmad had surrendered before a court on January 31 and walked away after getting bail. The man who posed himself as the driver has gone missing and even his identity has been found to be fake. Police have launched a manhunt to locate and identify the man who was on the wheels when the horrific accident took place.
Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police (City) Salman Taj Patil said that further investigation was needed in the case to fix the responsibility and also piece together the sequence of the case. "Call Data Record (CDR) analysis of Dr Manish Rawat shows he was near the accident spot around 12:05 am. His conduct is very suspicious as he has been dodging the investigation," the SP added.
Even if he was driving the car, he should have at least given first aid to the victims as he is a qualified doctor and also approached the police, the SP added.
It may be recalled that on Friday night (January 27), four people — Rinku Yadav, Yajuvinder Singh, Vishal Singh and Sanjeev — lost their lives near Vaishali area in Ghaziabad after the speeding Audi Q7 hit the auto they were travelling in.
Taking cognisance of the accident, the Director General of Police (DGP) of Uttar Pradesh Javeed Ahmed constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate this horrendous crash that has generated concern on the safety and security of those travelling during night.