Prayagraj: A day before Diwali, a speeding Jaguar car mowed down several people in Prayagraj’s Rajrooppur area, leaving one person dead and six injured.
A CCTV footage of the crash, which recently surfaced on the internet, shows the luxury vehicle first climbing onto a road divider before careening into bystanders and vehicles, creating a scene of chaos in the Dhoomanganj police station limits.
Here's what happened:
The incident took place on Monday afternoon when the Jaguar, driven by Rachit Madhyan, son of a prominent Prayagraj businessman, lost control near the Rajrooppur crossing. The car rammed a divider, swerved onto the main road, and struck multiple people, including a man on a motorbike. The impact threw the biker several feet away, while 55-year-old electrician Pradeep Patel died on the spot.
The car also hit two other cars, two motorcycles and a scooter, leaving several others injured. Witnesses described the crash as sudden and violent, with debris scattered across the road. The footage of the accident has since gone viral on social media.
Driver arrested from Lucknow hospital
The accused driver, Rachit Madhyan, who hails from the family that owns the well-known Kamadhenu Sweets chain, was also injured in the crash and later flown to Lucknow for treatment. Prayagraj police confirmed that Madhyan was arrested from a Lucknow hospital and produced before a remand magistrate at around 10:40 pm on Tuesday. He has been sent to judicial custody.
Police said an FIR has been registered, and the vehicle involved in the crash has been seized. The Dhoomanganj police are investigating the sequence of events leading to the accident, including whether reckless driving or over-speeding was involved.
