Woman Held for Fatal BMW Crash

New Delhi: A 38-year-old woman, who allegedly drove the BMW car that hit a motorcycle in Delhi Cantonment, killing a senior finance ministry official and injuring his wife, was arrested on Monday after being discharged from a hospital.

A case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder has been registered against her under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The sections invoked include 281 (rash driving or riding on a public way), 125B (acts endangering life or personal safety of others), 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence or giving false information to screen an offender).

The accused has been identified as Gaganpreet Kaur (38), wife of Parikshit Makkar, a resident of Gurugram. The BMW had five occupants at the time of the crash: the driver, her husband, their six-year-old daughter, their four-year-old son, and a maid.

Police said the luxury car and the two-wheeler involved in the collision have been seized. The crime team, along with forensic experts, examined the accident site near Delhi Cantonment Metro station.

Police sources also said there were possibilities of tampering with the medical reports of the accused woman. The matter is under investigation. Sources added that Gaganpreet’s father served as a director at a hospital in GTB Nagar, which police suspect could be the reason why the injured victims were taken there despite its distance from the accident site.

According to the FIR, Navjot Singh (52), Deputy Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs and a resident of Hari Nagar, was killed when the BMW rammed his motorcycle on Ring Road around 1.30 pm on Sunday. His wife, Sandeep Kaur, sustained multiple injuries and fractures and remains under treatment.

In an updated statement, police said that during further interrogation, Gaganpreet told investigators she was in a state of panic after the crash and could not recall how it happened. She claimed that bystanders pulled her out of the overturned BMW and admitted to seeing the victims lying on the road.

Investigators said she requested a van driver, Mohammad Gulfam, to take the victims to a hospital in Azadpur. When asked why she did not take them to a nearby hospital, she said she only knew of that hospital because her children had been treated there during the Covid-19 pandemic. Police said her blood samples have been collected, and reports on possible intoxication are awaited.

Van driver Gulfam told the media that he transported all four injured persons, the official, his wife, and the BMW occupants. “Many bystanders were recording videos of the accident site immediately after it happened, but did not help. I didn’t wait for an ambulance. With the help of some people, I took them all to a hospital in Azadpur after the man and woman in the car asked me to,” he said.

“They were in a serious condition. After 20 to 25 minutes, the doctor declared Navjot Singh dead,” Gulfam added. He also recalled that Sandeep Kaur, despite her injuries, gave him their home address.

Eyewitnesses, including labourers working near the site, said they heard a loud crash and rushed to see the BMW overturned on the central verge after skidding nearly 50 metres. An 18-year-old worker, Ankit, said he heard children crying inside the BMW. “I helped take out a girl who was bleeding from the nose. I also helped pull out a boy and another woman,” he recalled.

Another worker said police had to take a longer route due to a traffic jam, and even an ambulance that passed by allegedly refused to stop. “Many people were instead recording videos of the accident,” he added.