It was just after 5 pm on April 15. The road next to the ITO bus stop in Delhi buzzed with usual chaos. Narender Kumar, a 52-year-old librarian, stood quietly by the railing, waiting to go home. Minutes later, he was on the ground – struck by a speeding black Mahindra Bolero. By the time his son reached the hospital, he was dead.

The accident was sudden. The aftermath has been murky.

The black Bolero didn’t flee. The car was seized and its number plate recorded. An autorickshaw driver told Newslaundry he took the Bolero’s driver and Kumar to the Lok Nayak Hospital. Even though the FIR filed at IP Estate police station did not say definitively whether the person who went with the autorickshaw driver was behind the wheels at the time of the accident. 

However, what the FIR did confirm was that someone else was present at the hospital along with the autorickshaw driver, when a medico-legal certificate was being prepared for the accident victim. It also mentioned the phone numbers of these two people. The victim’s family alleged that the police said it was the Bolero’s owner who was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident. 

But 10 days on, the family is still in the dark. 

The police haven’t named a single suspect. No arrest. Not even a definitive confirmation of who was behind the wheel. The FIR filed at IP Estate police station hasn’t even invoked legal provisions pertaining to death in an accident. No charges stronger than rash or negligent driving.

Newslaundry has now found that the car is registered in the name of Manash Pratim Gohain, a senior assistant editor with The Times of India. The mobile number listed in the FIR also belongs to him. When this reporter visited Lok Nayak Hospital, one police official, looking at the MLC number, asked: “Is this the case where a journalist’s car hit someone?” He offered no further comment.

Newslaundry reached out to Manash Pratim Gohain multiple times. Calls went unanswered. A detailed questionnaire was sent. This report will be updated if he responds.

‘Cops haven’t told us his name’

ASI Amit Yadav, the investigating officer, told Newslaundry that the car has been seized.