Kanpur Lamborghini Crash: High-Profile Cases Where Accused Blamed Hired Drivers

The recent Lamborghini crash in Kanpur, which left several pedestrians injured, has once again drawn attention to a familiar defence used in high-end road accident cases—the claim that a hired driver, and not the accused, was behind the wheel.

In the Kanpur case, the family of the alleged accused claimed that a chauffeur was driving the luxury car at the time of the crash. However, police have said CCTV footage, eyewitness accounts and other evidence clearly show that Shivam Mishra, son of a tobacco baron, was driving the Lamborghini when the accident occurred.

Similar disputes over the identity of the driver have surfaced in several high-profile road accidents in the past, often involving luxury vehicles and influential individuals.

Pune, Maharashtra

(2024)

On May 19, 2024, a Porsche allegedly driven by a 17-year-old crashed into two IT professionals in Pune’s upscale Kalyani Nagar area, killing both. Police said the family attempted to present the family driver as the person behind the wheel and that he was pressured to take responsibility.

Investigators later arrested the minor’s father and grandfather in connection with alleged evidence tampering.

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New Delhi (2016)

A hit-and-run in Delhi’s Civil Lines area on April 4, 2016, claimed the life of a 32-year-old IT professional after a Mercedes, allegedly driven by a minor, hit him. Soon after the crash, the family’s chauffeur approached the police and said he was driving the vehicle.

During questioning, he later claimed he had been pressured to take the blame. Based on forensic and circumstantial evidence, police concluded that the minor was driving at the time of the accident.

Delhi (1999)

On January 10, 1999, a BMW car mowed down six people, including three policemen, at Lodhi Road in Delhi. During the investigation, attempts were made to suggest that someone else was driving instead of businessman Sanjeev Nanda.

The case relied heavily on witness accounts and forensic evidence, and in 2008, Nanda was convicted by the trial court.

(With inputs from PTI)