A mother and her minor son were killed and two other people were injured after a Toyota Fortuner struck pedestrians near Bright Child School in Ahmedabad’s Nikol area on Monday night. Police arrested the driver, Viral Savjibhai Chaudhari, after his medical examination reportedly returned positive for alcohol consumption.
The crash occurred near the Nikol D-Mart area, where Poonamben Nagwadia, 30, and her minor son Sagar were seated on a footpath selling sofa covers. Kartikbhai Vasoya and his wife, Snehalben, had reportedly stopped at the spot to make a purchase when the Fortuner, travelling from the Devasya crossroads side, hit them.
According to the report, the vehicle continued onto the footpath and struck Poonamben and Sagar before colliding with a wall. The impact damaged the wall and brought the vehicle to a stop. All four injured people were taken for medical treatment, but Poonamben and Sagar later died. One of the other two victims was reported to be in serious condition.
Police from the I Division Traffic unit reached the site, cleared the traffic disruption and detained Chaudhari, a 36-year-old resident of Nana Chiloda. The traffic police registered a case of culpable homicide, while Nikol police also registered a prohibition offence after six beer cans were reportedly found in the vehicle.
The medical test conducted after the crash indicated that Chaudhari had consumed alcohol, according to the report. Police questioning reportedly found that he operated a steel-engineering business in Bakrol and had told his family that he was leaving for work. Investigators said he had instead left home to eat at a hotel in Nikol and had brought the beer cans from Nana Chiloda.
The exact speed of the Fortuner was not immediately established. Chaudhari reportedly told police that the vehicle was travelling at between 40 kmph and 50 kmph. Investigators have sought assistance from the Forensic Science Laboratory to determine the speed at the time of the collision.
Police have also collected CCTV footage from before the crash. The footage reportedly shows a two-wheeler rider narrowly avoiding a collision with the same vehicle near a circle. Investigators have further found details of an earlier overspeeding memo generated for the Fortuner.
The case remains under investigation, with police examining the vehicle’s speed, the footage and the circumstances leading to the collision. Chaudhari’s arrest followed the deaths of Poonamben and Sagar and the registration of the traffic and prohibition cases.
