A joyride turned tragic for five students from different universities when their car rammed into a divider, leaving two boys dead and three girls critically injured. The accident took place at the Hudson lane area in the wee hours of Sunday when the five students were returning from a fest in Noida.
According to the police, the deceased have been identified as Ritesh Dahiya (21) and Siddhartha (20), while the three injured girls are Diksha Dadu, Joshita Mohanty and Rashi Sharma, all are in the age group of 19-20 years. Alcohol bottles were found in the dilapidated car.
Confirming the incident, Aslam Khan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) said, “We received a PCR call at around 2:45am about an accident at a T-point at Hudson lane. The i20 was moving at high speed from Vijay Nagar area to Kingsway Camp when the car driven by Diksha lost control and hit the central verge before knocking down a traffic signal.”
A senior police officer said that as per local enquiry, all the five friends had gone to attend a fest in Noida and left at around 11 pm. Sidhartha, a resident of Pitampura and student of Maharaja Surajmal Shiksha Sansthan in Janak Puri and Ritesh Dahiya from Sonipat in Haryana, a BSc 2nd year student of Delhi University's Sri Venkateswara College, were returning after a ride in an i20 car with their friends Diksha Dadu, a resident of Delhi, Joshita Mohanty from Mumbai and Rashi Sharma from Meerut, all first year llB students at Amity University, Noida.
Witnesses and locals told police that soon as the car reached a T-Point at Hudson lane in Mukherjee Nagar, the driver of the speeding vehicle lost control and it crashed into a divider. The speed of the vehicle was such that it overturned and tumbled down the road for a few meters.
DCP Khan said that both the boys died as a result of the accident. “The three girls also sustained injuries. The vehicle was being driven by one Diksha Dadu, at the time of accident. Her medical examination reveals that she was under the influence of alcohol while driving the vehicle,” Khan said.
Police said that Diksha Dadu and Rashi Sharma were sitting in the front seats. When locals reported the matter to the police, the bodies were so badly tangled in the decimated vehicle that the car had to be cut open, and the injured were pulled out. Police said, while Sidharth and Ritesh Dahiya died on the spot, Rashi has sustained a fracture in her collar bone. She is yet to be discharged from Trauma Centre while Diksha and Joshita managed to escape with minor injuries. They were also admitted for treatment and are yet to overcome the trauma. Diksha who was driving will be arrested once discharged.
The DCP said that a case has been registered for rash and negligent driving and for causing death due to negligence under IPC sections, at Mukherjee Nagar police station.
Police said that I20 car (HR 10AA-O181) is registered in the name of Ritesh's father. Further investigation is underway, they added.