BMW crash: Accused claims she was in panic, took victim to familiar hospital linked to her family

New Delhi: In the ongoing investigation into the fatal BMW crash near Delhi Cantonment, the driver of the vehicle, 38-year-old Gaganpreet Kaur, has told police that she took the injured victim to Nulife Hospital in GTB Nagar because she was in a state of panic and only knew that particular hospital, where her children had been admitted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Delhi Police, when specifically asked why the victims were not taken to the nearest hospital, Gaganpreet stated that panic had clouded her judgement and that Nulife was the only facility she was familiar with. She also said she had previously assisted her husband in the family’s business of manufacturing cloth-based horse saddles.

However, police sources have since confirmed that Nulife Hospital is co-owned by Gaganpreet’s family. Her father is reportedly one of the three partners running the facility. The hospital is located nearly 19 kilometres from the site of the crash, raising serious questions about why multiple closer hospitals were bypassed.

The crash, which occurred near the Delhi Cantonment Metro station, claimed the life of Navjot Singh, a 52-year-old Deputy Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs under the Union Finance Ministry. Singh and his wife, Sandeep Kaur, were returning from Bangla Sahib Gurdwara when their two-wheeler was struck by the BMW, which was being driven by Gaganpreet, with her husband Parikshit in the passenger seat.

Delhi Police said, "Gaganpreet Makkad was arrested during the investigation. She stated that she, along with her husband, 2 kids (6-year-old daughter, 4-year-old son) and maid were going from Gurugram to her house. During further interrogation, she could not recall the cause of the accident. She stated that the public took her out of the vehicle. She saw the deceased and injured on the road. In the meantime, the driver of the Portar van Gulfam stopped the van. He stated that the public got the deceased and his wife in the car. Later, a lady came into the front seat and asked him to go to the Hospital in Azadpur."

Despite repeated pleas from Sandeep Kaur to take them to a nearby hospital, the couple was transported instead to Nulife Hospital in a Maruti Eeco van driven by a bystander, Mohammad Gulfam. Gulfam has since told police that Gaganpreet instructed him to drive towards Azadpur, where the hospital is located.

“I was driving a loading vehicle; I stopped and rushed the injured to a hospital in Azadpur after the man and the woman in the car asked me to take them there,” Gulfam said.

Sandeep Kaur, in her police statement—now part of the FIR—confirmed that it was Gaganpreet who accompanied them to the hospital and that the facility was far from the accident scene:

“The lady took us to a small hospital in GTB Nagar, far from the accident site,” she told investigators.

The Delhi Police are are awaiting toxicology reports to determine whether drink-driving was a factor. CCTV footage is also being reviewed to ascertain whether the vehicle was overspeeding at the time of the incident.

(With ANI and PTI inputs)