After a BMW collided with the motorcycle of a senior finance ministry official in Delhi on Sunday, the official’s son questioned why his father was taken to a hospital about 20 kilometres from the accident site when there were major hospitals nearby.
While returning home from Gurudwara Bangla Sahib on his motorcycle with his wife, Navjot Singh, deputy secretary in the department of economic affairs under the ministry of finance, was struck by a BMW car on Ring Road near Delhi Cantt metro station.
The couple was then taken by the accused to a private hospital in GTB Nagar. Singh, 52, succumbed to his injuries; his wife, Sandeep Kaur, sustained serious injuries and remains hospitalised.
Navnoor Singh, their son, told PTI in Hindi, “Time is critical in such cases. Maybe he would have survived if he had been taken to a nearby hospital.”
He further alleged that the hospital to which his father was taken is owned by someone known to the accused woman.
A police officer aware of the matter told HT: “The accused’s father is known to one of the three owners of the hospital where the victims were taken.”
He said that a family friend had called to inform him that his parents had met with an accident. “I thought it must be a minor accident as my father is a careful driver. I was not very worried. But when we went to the hospital, it didn’t make sense to me why my parents were admitted in GTB Nagar when the accident happened near Dhaula Kuan,” he said.
“They were taken to a hospital 22 km away from the accident spot. If they had been taken to a nearby hospital, my father—who succumbed to his injuries—could have been saved,” he told PTI.
Navnoor also alleged that the woman driving the BMW, who also sustained injuries, had brought his parents to the hospital, but the staff refused to provide any information about her.
“I kept asking the hospital staff about who brought my parents here, and from nurses to doctors, everyone said they are here, sitting outside. But I didn’t find anyone. Later, I learnt that the patient on a hospital bed next to my dad was also involved in the accident,” NDTV quoted him as saying.
The driver of the car has been identified as Gagan Preet Makkad, with her husband Parikshit seated beside her, the report mentioned.
Navnoor Singh said that about five hours later, he noticed a doctor preparing a medico-legal certificate bearing Gagan Preet’s name, which led him to question the hospital. On making inquiries, he learned that Gagan Preet was receiving treatment at the same facility.
A case has been registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Section 238A (destruction or concealment of evidence), Section 281 (rash driving), Section 125B (acts endangering life or personal safety), and Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).
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