Ludhiana: Driver held on murder charges as mishap victim succumbs

A pickup jeep driver was arrested and charged with murder as a road mishap victim succumbed to injuries over a month after the incident, officials said on Saturday.
The driver had allegedly dumped Dalvir Singh Kala, a mason, in fields of Bhumaddi village instead of taking him to a hospital after hitting him.
The victim was under treatment for a month and a half before he succumbed. The Khanna police added murder sections to the case on Friday and arrested Gurmeet Singh alias Kala of Dhanaula village of Barnala.
Earlier, the accused had availed anticipatory bail as police had booked him for rash driving and causing hurt.
Issru police post in-charge sub-inspector Davinder Singh said the accused hit the victim, a resident of Kartar Nagar, Amloh Road of Khanna, with his pickup Jeep on July 9 as the victim was going to see a doctor.
As the locals gathered, the accused promised to take the victim to a hospital but fled after duping him in the fields instead.
The victim was found unconscious three days after the incident and was rushed to a hospital. He was then referred to a government hospital in Chandigarh.
The sub-inspector said that victim’s brother Kuldeep Singh had loged a police complaint.
The Sadar Khanna police registered a case under sections 281 (rash driving), 125 A (act endangering life or personal safety of others and causing hurt), 125 B (act endangering life or personal safety of others and grievous hurt), 324 (2) (committing mischief) and 238 (intentional disappearance of evidence related to a crime) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The SI said section 103 (1) (murder) was added to the case on Friday and police are investigating if the crime was planned.