Speeding Merc kills business executive in Delhi

A 32-year-old marketing executive was killed by a speeding Mercedes driven by a man in a suspected inebriated state in the posh Civil Lines area of north Delhi, the police said on Tuesday.

The victim, Sidharth Sharma, was the marketing head of a private enterprise, the police said, adding that the identity of the person who was driving the car is yet to be ascertained even though they have zeroed in on the owner of the vehicle.

According to police, the incident took place at around 8.55 am on Monday when Sharma's friend dropped him near an eatery in the Civil Lines area. He was hit by the speeding car as he was about to cross the intersection near LudlowCastleSchool.

Sharma was flung several feet into the air and landed at least 15 metres away as the car hit him. Due to the impact of the accident, a tyre of the car burst and the vehicle stopped after a sharp drift on the road.

As it came to a halt, all the occupants of the car fled the scene abandoning the vehicle there. The Police was informed and Sharma was taken to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, a senior official said.

Eyewitnesses told police that the car was moving at least 80km per hour as it hit Sharma. They added that they had seen a few youths, aged between 20 and 25 years, step out of the vehicle after the accident.

One eyewitness told police that some people who were at the spot caught hold of one of the occupants of the car but let him go later after he told them that he was not the one driving the car and also the victim was not dead.

The police was also told that two bikers had a narrow escape with the car seconds before it ran over Sharma. "We have registered a case and are monitoring CCTV footage to ascertain the identity of the accused. The statements of eyewitnesses have been recorded," said DCP (North) Madhur Verma.

The abandoned Mercedes -- its owner turned out to be a Delhi-based businessman who resides in the Civil Lines area -- has been impounded by the police. The businessman said his driver was the last one to have taken the vehicle out, following which the latter was questioned for hours, the official said.

Investigators have not ruled out the drunken driving angle in the case.

It is suspected that the businessman's driver was one of the occupants of the car, the official said, adding that it cannot be said at the moment whether he was the one driving the vehicle at the time of the incident.

Sharma was also pursuing a professional degree from an institute here affiliated to an American university. He had earlier worked on a project with the Bhabha Atomic  Research Centre.