LUCKNOW: Hours after a speeding car ran over six pedestrians near Hanuman Temple on Kanpur Road in the Banthra area of Lucknow on Thursday night, police arrested the accused driver based on CCTV footage.The accused has been identified as 21-year-old Gaurav Singh. He was a class 12 student and was returning from his farewell. The accident occurred around 8.30 pm when a car travelling from Lucknow towards Kanpur allegedly rammed into a parked motorcycle and then ploughed through pedestrians along the roadside.The victims included six-year-old Dikshant, son of Sadhana Patel of Atwa Khurd in Unnao district, who succumbed to critical injuries at Sarojini Nagar Community Health Centre. Five others — including two women, two children and an e-rickshaw driver — sustained injuries and are undergoing treatment.Eyewitnesses alleged that when locals tried to stop the car after it first hit a motorcycle, the driver accelerated in an attempt to flee, hitting multiple people over a stretch of nearly 100 metres before colliding with a parked auto and escaping.Police detained a teenage girl who was reportedly inside the car at the time of the incident. During questioning, she identified the driver as Gaurav Singh.Banthra SHO Rana Rajesh Singh said CCTV footage from nearby establishments was scanned overnight, leading to the identification and arrest of the accused within hours of the incident. The vehicle has also been seized.The body of the deceased child has been sent for post-mortem. A case has been registered, and further legal action is underway.Deputy commissioner of police, South Zone, Nipun Agarwal, said that based on CCTvs we have arrested Gaurav who father owns a store of construction material in Banthra. However, the DCP said that the car belonged to his friend and registration number was of Kanpur district. “We have seized the car also,” he said.
