Zirakpur mishap takes new turn
Bipin Bhardwaj
Tribune News Service
Zirakpur, February 8
The Zirakpur flyover mishap, in which two students were killed on Friday, took a new turn today with the mother of Samarpreet Singh, a 16-year-old schoolboy who was injured, claiming that she was behind the wheels of the i20 car when the accident took place. Five vehicles were involved in the mishap.
Samarpreet Singh, a student of Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36, was travelling in the Hyundi i20 car (HP 03D 2358) that was involved in the mishap and was known to deceased, Mankirat Singh, a student of New Public School, Sector 18, Chandigarh, who was driving a Pajero (CH 04E 0067).
The police had registered a case against Samarpreet’s father, Sukhwinder Singh, who owns the i20 car. Based on eyewitness accounts, the police had earlier stated that Samarpreet was behind the wheels.
Undergoing treatment at Max Super-specialty Hospital, Mohali, Samarpreet Singh’s mother Simran Ghotra told Chandigarh Tribune that she was driving the car back home from Chandigarh after picking up her son from school when they met with the accident.
She said, “Samarpreet was having lunch while I was driving the car. All of a sudden, a vehicle hit us and we landed on the other lane of the flyover. No one came forward to help me in rescuing Samarpreet. He somehow managed to come out of the mangled remains of the car following which I called my husband, Sukhwinder Singh, for help.
Samarpreet, while talking from the hospital bed, said he was known to Mankirat. “He was my Facebook friend.”
The police had registered an FIR against Sukhwinder Singh, owner of the i20 car, after recovering documents from the vehicle following the mishap.
The FIR was registered against Sukhwinder Singh on a complaint of a Patiala resident, Manesh Sexna, one of the injured who was driving another i20 car that also met with the accident.
The functioning of the police came under the lens after the case was registered against the owner of the i20 car and not against the owner of the Pajero despite the fact that both vehicles had landed on the opposite lane of the flyover.
Meanwhile, Pooja and Mohit, who were admitted to the PGI with injuries suffered in the mishap, were discharged from the hospital on request this evening. They have been shifted to a private hospital on their request.
Vijyant Thapa, a student of Sri Sukhmani Polytechnic College, Dera Bassi, is under treatment at the PGI while the condition of auto driver, Amit Kumar is stated to be serious at the GMCH-32.
The age mystery
Though eyewitnesses claimed that Mankirat and Samarpreet were underage and were driving the vehicles, registered in the names of their fathers, ASI Hans Raj said Mankirat’s family had claimed that he was 18 years old. Samarpreet was 16 years old as per the hospital records.
