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The police said Zafruddin (22) and Imran Ali (25), of Navyug Construction Company, were working at the site near Karkardooma courts when the crash took place — at 12.30 am.
Zafruddin died killed on the spot; Imran has suffered multiple fractures with a serious pelvic fracture, the doctors said.
According to police, the accused, Devender Singh, 23, was inebriated and was returning from a wedding party in east Delhi’s Anand Vihar with four friends when he lost control at the work-site.
Imran Ali, undergoing treatment at Aditya Medical Centre in Laxmi Nagar, told Newsline: “We were working at the site when I suddenly heard tyres screeching. I looked up and saw a white car approaching us at breakneck speed. But before we could do anything, it crushed Zafruddin and then hit me.
“I blacked out after that.”
The crash alerted the police team patrolling at a nearby picket. They rushed to the spot and found the accused had already reversed his car and was trying to flee — they were held after a little chase.
“We have registered a case of death due to negligence, and rash and negligent driving against Devender. He has been arrested,” a police officer said. “His car has been seized.”
At the hospital, Imran still has nightmares of the crash “every time I close my eyes”. He said, “Zafruddin was like a brother — we come from the same village in UP, Rajpur. We came to Delhi separately but worked with the same construction company for over a year.”
Devender and his friends — Anuj, Amit, Amar and Sunil — live in Suraj Mal Vihar, Preet Vihar.
High on wheels: How Delhi can learn from Mumbai
When Devender Singh mowed down Zafruddin and sent Imran to the hospital late night, the Delhi Traffic Police was in the middle of a drive to catch drunk drivers. Between 10 pm and midnight at CP’s Outer Circle, they prosecuted 250 people for various offences, including 29 for drunk driving.
But the ongoing drive, like others in the past, has not produced results like the drive in Mumbai has.
“A study by the Indian Council of Medical Research five years ago shows three out of 10 drivers on Delhi streets in night are drunk,” traffic expert Rohit Baluja said. “That is nearly 30,000 to 40,000 motorists. The enforcement against drunk driving will have an impact only if at least one percent of these offenders are prosecuted.
Experts also say there is no “unified strategy” to catch drunk drivers, with each district conducting its own drive randomly. But DCP Traffic (New Delhi) Suvashish Chaudhary said, “Delhi is too big, which makes access control a little difficult.”
The Mumbai way: Police in Mumbai launched a major campaign against drunk driving last June. Thousands of cases were registered and, in an unprecedented move, drivers were sentenced to jail terms extending to a period of 30 days.
“There was a steady rise in number of fatal accidents in Mumbai,” DCP, Traffic, Harish Baijal told Newsline. Baijal himself argued in court on behalf of the police for prison terms.
According to Mumbai Police figures, 11,416 drunk driving cases were registered from June 20 to December 31, 2007. Of these, 2,623 cases resulted in simple imprisonment terms under Section 185 of Motor Vehicles Act. This year, 1,319 Mumbaikars have been booked for drunk driving — 602 have been sentenced to simple imprisonment.
In contrast, only 3,748 persons were prosecuted last year for drunk driving in Delhi; 2,136 were arrested for the same offence.
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