Priyamvada.Sharma
Aastha Apartment
New Delhi: Two days after five people were injured when a car hit people inside a housing society in east Delhi’s Mayur Vihar Phase III, two men were arrested Tuesday. Two of the injured people remain critical, while police are searching for another suspect.The arrested men were identified as Sushant and Atul, both 21 years old and residents of Ghazipur. Police traced them using CCTV footage.Sushant told police that he had gone to Aastha Apartments Sunday night to meet a woman who lived there. According to his statement, some teenagers sitting near the complex questioned him about the reason behind the visit, leading to an argument. Sushant then allegedly called two friends, who arrived from Ghazipur in a car with a missing numberplate.Police said a scuffle broke out between the group and residents around 9pm. As the situation escalated, Sushant allegedly got behind the wheel and tried to speed away. “While escaping, they drove the car at a high speed, hitting several parked two-wheelers and at least five people. Some of the injured were pedestrians,” an officer said.Investigators said Sushant was pursuing a BA degree through an open university in Uttar Pradesh. Deputy commissioner of police (east) Rajeev Kumar said the duo were arrested from Mayur Vihar III.Meanwhile, 12-year-old Mohit remains critical. His aunt, Indu Rawat, said Mohit and his 15-year-old cousin, Rohan, had come home in Aastha Apartments for a religious function. Around 9pm, they left on a scooter to return photographs to members of a kirtan mandli.According to residents welfare association president Raju Verma, the scooter’s headlight briefly fell on a man, later identified as Sushant, and his woman friend, who appeared to be arguing. Sushant allegedly hurled a flowerpot and Rohan lost control.As the cousins tried to leave, Mohit was allegedly chased and beaten up. Chetan (47), who was among the first residents to intervene around 9.15pm, said more men arrived in a black car without one numberplate and used thick wooden beams with protruding screws to attack residents. Verma claimed the assailants attacked everyone who came in their way before ramming their car into people.Kaushik Sengupta, a 50-year-old resident, was among those injured. He was riding a motorcycle with friend Raza Ashraf (49) when one of the assailants took a wooden beam from the car and attacked them. “Before I could understand what was happening, they started hitting us. Kaushik bore the brunt,” Ashraf said.Sengupta is admitted to the neuro ICU of a private hospital with multiple facial fractures and is scheduled to undergo surgery, said his 47-year-old sister Keya Sengupta.Another resident, Vinod, a 52-year-old MNC manager and resident of Pocket 4, remains critical in the ICU at another hospital.
