High-profile road crashes: Instances when accused pinned blame on hired drivers

New Delhi, Feb 10 (PTI) The Kanpur Lamborghini crash that injured several pedestrians has put focus on a recurring defence in luxury-car accident cases — attributing the crash to a hired driver.

In this case too, the family of the alleged accused claimed a chauffeur was driving the vehicle, even as police said CCTV footage, eyewitness accounts and other evidence clearly place tobacco baron’s son Shivam Mishra behind the wheel.

Similar cases of contested identity of the driver emerged in other high-profile incidents, including the most reported hit-and-run case involving Bollywood superstar Salman Khan in September, 2002.

Here are some of the prominent incidents: * Pune, Maharashtra (2024): A Porsche allegedly driven by a 17-year-old killed two

IT professionals in Pune’s upscale Kalyani Nagar on May 19, 2024. Police said the family attempted to portray the driver as the person behind the wheel and that he was pressured to take the responsibility. The minor’s father and grandfather were later arrested in connection with alleged evidence tampering.

* New Delhi (2016): A hit-and-run case in Delhi’s Civil Lines area on April 4, 2016, led to the death of a 32-year-old IT professional after a Mercedes allegedly driven by a minor hit him. Soon after the incident, the family’s chauffeur approached police, claiming he was driving the car at the time of the accident.

However, during questioning, the driver allegedly told investigators he had been pressured to take the responsibility. Police subsequently relied on forensic and circumstantial evidence and detained the minor, concluding he was behind the wheel when the crash occurred.

* Mumbai (2002): One of India’s most widely discussed road-accident cases involved actor Salman Khan, whose Toyota Land Cruiser rammed into people sleeping on a pavement in Mumbai’s Bandra area on September 28, 2002, killing one person and injuring four others. During the investigation and trial, questions over who was driving the vehicle became central to the case. Later, after several years, in 2015, Khan’s driver told a court that he was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident.

Prosecutors, however, argued that evidence showed Khan was behind the wheel and termed the driver a “self-condemned liar”. In 2015, the Bombay High Court acquitted Khan, giving him the benefit of doubt after noting inconsistencies in the prosecution’s evidence.

* Delhi (1999): On January 10, 1999, a BMW car ran over and killed six people, including three policemen, at Lodhi Road in Delhi. During the investigation, attempts were made to suggest that someone else — not the accused businessman Sanjeev Nanda — was driving the vehicle. The case later hinged on witness testimony and forensic evidence. In 2008, Nanda was convicted by the trial court. PTI MG MG MNK MNK