The blood sample report of the accused, Gaganpreet, has been reported negative for alcohol, Delhi Police said on Tuesday citing medical report. Gaganpreet was arrested on Monday and was sent to two days ‘ judicial custody. The medical report implies that she was not driving the car under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident. Notably, Gaganpreet was arrested on charges of hitting the two-wheeler of a couple in Delhi’s Dhaula Kuan area, leading to the death of the rider, who was later identified as an official at the Finance Ministry.
Gaganpreet sent to two days of judicial custody
A Delhi court on Monday sent her to two days of judicial custody. Duty Magistrate Akanksha Singh sent 38-year-old Gaganpreet Kaur to judicial custody after she was produced before the judge at her residence citing that her custodial interrogation was not required, said senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, Gaganpreet’s counsel.
The judge also issued notices to Delhi Police and the victim’s kin on the bail application moved by Kaur, and directed them to file their replies by September 17, when the court concerned will hear the matter.
Deputy Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, Navjot Singh (52), died when his motorcycle was hit by a BMW while returning home from Bangla Sahib Gurdwara with his wife, who suffered serious injuries.
Gaganpreet was arrested on charges of culpable homicide
Gaganpreet was arrested on culpable homicide not amounting to murder and other charges on Monday after being discharged from a hospital, police said.
Several questions were raised on the handling of the aftermath of the crash as the FIR alleged that Gaganpreet, took the victims — Navjot Singh and his wife Sandeep Kaur — to a healthcare facility more than 19 kilometres away from the accident site instead of any nearby hospital.
Here’s what the victims’ families alleged
Moreover, the victims’ family alleged that Gaganpreet and her husband were treated before Navjot and his wife despite their serious injuries.
Pahwa opposed police plea seeking judicial custody, saying FIR was delayed by 10 hours. He said the allegations were contradictory to the press conference held by the DCP, the CCTV recording of the accident and the statement of those who took the injured and the deceased to the hospital.
“The DCP has stated that the CCTV shows that the BMW first hit the divider on the curve from the front, and the back of the BMW, therefore hit the two wheeler, and then the two wheeler hit the DTC bus because of which this incident happened, and unfortunately, one person died,” he told the judge.
Pahwa added that there was no need to arrest the woman as she was already in the hospital. “Since police custody demand has not even been sought, where was the need to take her into custody and send her to jail? Since no recovery was supposed to be made and no accused was need to be identified, where was the need or necessity for the arrest,” Pahwa asked.
There was no knowledge that the act of the perpetrator will result into death of the deceased, he further said, adding that the accused “tried her best to give them the medical treatment”.
As per the FIR, Navjot Singh, a resident of Hari Nagar, was killed when the BMW rammed into his motorcycle on Ring Road around 1.30 PM on Sunday. His wife sustained multiple injuries and a fracture and remains under treatment.
Gaganpreet, wife of Parikshit Makkar, is a resident of Gurugram. She and her husband, along with their two children and a maid, were in the BMW at the time of the crash. Her husband also sustained minor injuries.
The accused woman took Navjot Singh and his wife to Nulife Hospital, which is owned by one of her relatives, in north Delhi’s GTB Nagar, more than 19 kilometres away from the accident site. Navjot’s family alleged that the small hospital, where Singh was declared “brought dead”, was linked to the accused.
When questioned why she did not take them to a nearby hospital, accused Gaganpreet claimed that she panicked and only knew about that hospital because her children had been treated there during the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior police official said.
