A 26-year-old man, Ashish Bachchas, has been arrested after allegedly running over two men sleeping on a pavement in Delhi's Chanakyapuri area. The incident occurred on Sunday morning when Bachchas, driving a Mahindra Thar SUV, crashed into an electric pole near Gate No. 3 of Talkatora Stadium.
Following the accident, authorities discovered a stash of narcotics inside the vehicle. The recovered items included 0.3 grams of cocaine, 2.6 grams of LSD, 23.47 grams of methamphetamine (MD), 21.26 grams of ganja, 15.49 grams of flavored tobacco, and 4.17 grams of charas, along with ₹25,000 in cash and a mobile phone. The vehicle, bearing an Uttar Pradesh registration number, has been impounded.
The two victims were rushed to RML Hospital, where one of them, Sujesh (35) from Sikkim, was declared dead. The other injured person remained under treatment until late Sunday but eventually succumbed to his injuries. Authorities are still working to identify the second victim.
According to preliminary investigations, Bachchas was traveling from Gurgaon towards his residence in Shakarpur, East Delhi. Police suspect that he may have fallen asleep at the wheel, leading to the accident. They are also investigating whether Bachchas was under the influence of drugs at the time of the incident, with a medical report pending. An empty liquor bottle was also found in the car.
During questioning, Bachchas claimed that the drugs belonged to someone else and that he was unaware of their source. Police have stated that Bachchas does not have a prior criminal record and has been uncooperative during the investigation.
Bachchas, already arrested for causing death by negligence and rash driving, now faces additional charges under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. Police are investigating the source of the drugs and their intended destination, exploring possibilities that Bachchas may have been using them for personal consumption or for distribution.
The Delhi Police have been actively conducting operations to curb drug-related crimes. Operation Kavach 9.0 led to 92 arrests in 87 NDPS Act cases, with seizures of heroin and ganja. This year alone, authorities have arrested 1,784 individuals in connection with narcotics offenses, recovering significant quantities of various narcotics.
