BMW crash accused cites panic, Covid-time familiarity with hospital for 19-km detour

New Delhi, Sep 15 (PTI) The woman arrested for allegedly killing a senior government official with her BMW told police that she drove the victim 19 km to a hospital she knew from her children's Covid treatment, admitting she panicked at the crash site, police said on Monday.

Deputy Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs in the Finance Ministry, Navjot Singh, 52, a resident of Hari Nagar, was killed in the accident on the Ring Road near the Delhi Cantonment Metro Station on Sunday afternoon. His wife sustained serious injuries. They were returning home after visiting the Bangla Sahib Gurdwara.

The accused, Gaganpreet, 38, a resident of Gurugram, said during questioning that she took the victim to the hospital where her children had been admitted during the pandemic, they said.

However, police sources said the accused's family has links with the hospital.

Gaganpreet was travelling with her husband, two children aged six and four, and a domestic help when the accident occurred, police said. She claimed she could not recall how the accident took place and that she was pulled out of the car by people gathered at the site.

A tempo driver, Gulfam, told investigators that some passersby placed Singh and his injured wife in his vehicle before the accused joined and asked him to drive towards the hospital in GTB Nagar -- around 19 km away.

In her statement, Singh's wife, Sandeep Kaur, said, "I was constantly requesting them to take us to the nearest hospital as my husband was unconscious and needed immediate treatment. Instead, the lady took us to a small hospital in GTB Nagar." Police said Gaganpreet assists her husband in his business of manufacturing cloth-based horse saddles. Her blood sample report, which will confirm whether she was intoxicated at the time of the incident, is awaited. PTI SSJ RHL