NEW DELHI: A 70-year-old woman who was feeding birds and insects on the roadside Saturday morning was killed when a head-on crash between a Mercedes-Benz and a WagonR sent the smaller car into a parked three-wheeler, trapping her between the vehicles in Narela, Outer Delhi.Urmila Bhardwaj, a resident of Mamurpur village, was crushed between the WagonR and the parked vehicle, a goods carrier.Police arrested the Mercedes driver, 27-year-old Subham Sharma, the son of a Haryana Police sub-inspector.Urmila’s family alleged Sharma was speeding and drunk. Police have seized an empty liquor bottle and a beer bottle from his car.Narela crash: Both vehicles damaged, Merc driver heldThe beer bottle was visible in a video shot by local residents after the crash.A senior police officer said Subham was returning home from a party with friends. “We have sent his blood for examination and the report will confirm whether he was drunk or not,” the officer said.Police said Subham had completed his MA and was unemployed. “The car belonged to him and was purchased from a friend, although its ownership has not been transferred to his name,” the officer said.The smash-up happened around 8 am on the narrow road in front of Gate No. 1 of Himalaya Apartment in Mamurpur.The case was registered on the complaint of Geeta Verma, the wife of WagonR driver Narendra Kumar. Geeta told police that she, her husband and their 3-year-old child were going to Lajpat Rai market.The Mercedes, which was speeding and driven rashly, smashed into their WagonR head-on, pushing backwards their car that crashed into a three-wheeler parked near a wall. Urmila, who was standing near the three-wheeler, was caught in between. The public took her to a hospital, where she was declared dead.Geeta and Narendra also sustained minor injuries.Locals caught Subham and handed him over to police. The Mercedes sustained extensive damage to its front, with its airbags deployed, while the other vehicle was also badly damaged.Sunil, a relative of Urmila, said “My aunt was injured after the Mercedes, which was being driven at high speed, hit another vehicle. The driver was drunk. I took her to the hospital, where she was declared dead,” he said.A local resident and eyewitness, Sandhya, also alleged that the Mercedes was being driven at high speed and that the driver appeared to lose control before hitting other vehicles.A case has been registered under sections 281 (rash driving), 285 (danger or obstruction in public way or line of navigation) and 106(1) (causing death by negligence) of BNS.
