Jalandhar Police identify vehicle involved in hit and run that killed Fauja Singh; accused arrested

After identifying the car that hit 114-year-old marathoner Fauja Singh, the Jalandhar Rural Police have arrested the accused."

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After zeroing in on the car which hit 114-year-old marathoner Fauja Singh, the Jalandhar Rural Police teams have arrested the accused.

The white Fortuner (registration Punjab 20 C 7100) was identified as the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run incident, based on parts found at the scene, including a headlight and a section of the bumper. Due to the lack of CCTV coverage at the accident site, police teams spent hours reviewing footage from surrounding areas to trace the vehicle's movements.

Eyewitnesses reported that a white SUV, possibly a Fortuner or an Innova, struck Singh. We reviewed all videos to identify similar vehicles with missing parts. We also found that this vehicle had intact parts just before the accident site. This evidence led us to confirm that this was the vehicle involved in the incident," stated SSP Jalandhar Rural, Harvinder S Virk.

Virk added, "We are in the process to nab the accused. It is taking us time to reach the accused as this vehicle had thrice changed hands. The data of the subsequent buyers is not available on the transport department portal." Even as Punjab-20 is the RTO code for Balachaur, the police have given no clue about the accused.

The accident had taken place at 3.10 pm on Monday when Fauja Singh was crossing the Jalandhar-Pathankot National Highway near his place at Beas village to go to a dhaba owned by his family.

Harvinder Singh, son of Fauja Singh, has been maintaining that he was not at home when the accident took place. "We often told him not to go alone towards the highway, but he was adamant. The regret of losing our dad in an accident will haunt us throughout our lives. Had he died a natural death, there would have been no remorse," he said.

"He knew he had committed a crime but he could have stopped, accepted his mistake and rushed our dad to hospital in time. He would not have bled so profusely and lived with us today," he added.

The police have lodged a case under Sections 281 and 105 of the BNS at Adampur police station.