Hit-and-run accused gets bail, victim's family cries foul

New Delhi : The senior sales manager of a prominent FM channel, arrested in a hit-and-run case in which a Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) worker died, has been granted bail, the police said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the family members of the deceased, Dhiraj Sharma, a LJP worker and sole bread earner of his family, alleged that high-profile people get away after committing such acts. The family demanded justice and adequate compensation.

On June 30 at around 5:30 a.m., the accused Ankit Gulati, senior manager (sales) with a a prominent radio channel, was driving to the Agni Club at the Park Hotel in Connaught Place when his car rammed into a Sharma's scooter on Raisina Road.

Ankit later admitted that he was watching videos on his cellphone while driving and hence didn't see Sharma. He then ran away from the spot, leaving back the injured. "As the offence was bailable, Ankit was granted bail following documentation work.

He will be produced in the court at a later date. Our team will do the documentation and investigation work and submit it in the court as well as in the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) after which he will be given a date to produce himself in the court," said a senior police officer.

However, the brother of the deceased, who lives within the premises of a Free Church, said that they wanted justice for Sharma."Sharma was the sole bread earner of the family. He lived with his wife and three kids (two daughters and a four-month old son). These rich people get away after committing such crimes. We request the government to also come forward and help the family," Sharma's brother said.

The police said they will file the case in the MACT in order to help Sharma's family get compensation. On Saturday morning, Ankit was arrested from Patel Nagar after the police cracked the case with the help of a broken mudguard of his car which was recovered from the hit-and-run site on Raisina Road.

With the only piece of evidence available, the police identified the vehicle to be a Hyundai Creta. Records showed that of the 22,000 Creta running in the country, 2,677 were registered in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR).

The search narrowed down to 313 vehicles as the barcode on the mudguard showed that it was a black coloured 2018 model car. After scanning through the records, the registration number was identified to be DL 9CU 5656. The vehicle was registered in the name of Satish Kumar Gulati, a resident of East Patel Nagar area and father of Ankit.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Madhur Verma said: "An expert team from Hyundai analysed the broken mudguard. A special team of the police from New Delhi District went through CCTV footages of over 100 cameras and painstakingly carried out verification of hundreds of Black Hyundai Creta cars. Ankit had even sent the car for repair to avoid detection."

"During interrogation, Gulati revealed that on the night of June 29, he had gone out drinking with his friends first at the Eros Hotel in Nehru Place and then at the Hotel Samrat in Canakyapuri," Verma added. On Friday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met the family members of the deceased and initiated a magisterial probe into the incident.