CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Police has arrested a 26-year-old Canadian-based Non-Resident Indian (NRI), Amarjit Singh Dhillon, behind the tragic hit-and-run case involving 114-year-old Fauja Singh, famously known as the "Turbaned Tornado" and the world’s oldest marathon runner.
Dhillon, a resident of Dasupur village in Kartarpur, Jalandhar district, was arrested on Tuesday night. His white Toyota Fortuner (registration number PB-20C-7100), which was involved in the accident, has been seized. A case under Sections 281 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has been registered at Adampur Police Station.
The incident occurred on July 14, when Singh, following his routine afternoon walk, was struck by a speeding vehicle while crossing the Jalandhar-Pathankot highway near his native village, Beas. He was rushed to a private hospital in Jalandhar by locals but succumbed to his injuries later that evening.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jalandhar Rural, Harvinder Singh Virk, said the police launched an intensive investigation after recovering fragments from the scene, including parts of the left headlight. CCTV footage from nearby highways helped trace the SUV, which had visible damage matching the parts found at the site.
“About 35 vehicles had passed through that stretch around the time of the accident,” Virk stated. “With eyewitness accounts suggesting it was a Toyota Fortuner or Innova, we narrowed down the footage and identified the suspect vehicle.”
Dhillon had reportedly returned to India from Canada in late June and had purchased the vehicle from a Kapurthala resident. After the accident, he used internal village roads to return home, avoiding further detection. According to police, he confessed during interrogation that he panicked and fled the scene. He claimed he was unaware at the time that the victim was Fauja Singh and only learnt about it through media reports.
Dhillon, who went to Canada on a tourist visa and later obtained a work permit valid until 2027, was working in labour jobs there. His mother and three sisters are settled in Canada, while his father is deceased. He has no previous criminal record and held a valid Indian driving licence.
Fauja Singh’s son, Harvinder Singh, confirmed that his father’s condition deteriorated rapidly after the accident. “His pulse dropped drastically by Monday evening, and the medical team could not revive him,” he said.
Born on 1 April 1911 in Beas village, Jalandhar, Fauja Singh moved to East London in 1992 after the death of his wife. He began his marathon journey at the age of 89, completing the London Marathon in 2000 in 6 hours and 54 minutes breaking records in the 90+ age category.
Over the next decade, he participated in marathons across New York, Toronto, and Mumbai, with his personal best being 5 hours 40 minutes in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon (2003). In 2011, he became the first centenarian to finish a full marathon, completing the same Toronto race in 8 hours, 11 minutes, and 6 seconds. Although it was a world record, the Guinness World Records did not recognise it due to the absence of a birth certificate.
Fauja Singh carried the Olympic torch in the 2012 London Olympics and retired at the age of 101 after running his last 10 km race in Hong Kong in 1 hour, 32 minutes, and 28 seconds.
