NEW DELHI: “We will be back home in half an hour,” Abhav told his father over a call but never returned. Yagya, 20, and Abhav, 14, went to watch an IPL match between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Monday night. While returning home, a truck is said to have hit them near Bangla Sahib in central Delhi’s Parliament Street area.
Police said the accident was between their motorcycle and a goods carrier. They suffered head injuries, and family members said that they lay there for 15 minutes before help arrived. When the victims were rushed to hospital, where they were declared brought-dead.
Yagya was a BSc student, a passionate guitarist and a cricket enthusiast who aspired to represent India some day. His father, Shailendra, said that he practised the sport every morning. He also participated regularly in cultural events at his college.
Abhav, a Class 10 student, was talking to his father, Sumit, on the phone when the phone suddenly dropped. Abhav’s 15th birthday was just three days away. Sumit had bought him a new cricket bat as a surprise gift, and preparations for a party were underway.
Their uncle Ravi Bhatia said, “Someone picked up the phone after the accident and informed my brother that his kids had met with an accident. Both of them were very close to me. We hope that the person responsible is caught soon and punished.”
Eyewitnesses stated that the impact of the accident was very severe. People nearby immediately informed the police and helped take them to the hospital, but their lives could not be saved, said one. The truck driver had fled the scene immediately after the accident along with his vehicle.
Shailendra and Sumit run a dry fruit business in Chandni Chowk. The victims were their only children. On Tuesday morning, all the relatives had gathered at their house, mourning the loss and seeking justice. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the BNS and on the basis of the statement of an eyewitness.
The offending vehicle has been identified, and efforts are on to apprehend the driver of the vehicle, a police officer said. The bodies were shifted to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, and the postmortem examination report is awaited.