Happy at getting 76 per cent marks in his Class 11, Atul Arora was looking forward to his first day in Class 12 on Monday. But hours before, the 17-year-old student was killed by a speeding Mercedes Benz that dragged the boy around 100 metres after ramming his Scooty, police said.
Atul died in the accident at Paschim Vihar in west Delhi on Sunday night.
The car driver along with his three-four friends fled the spot. The accident was captured in CCTV cameras of nearby RWA's DDA flats of GH-9 block and a petrol pump and CNG station.
Atul, a student of Bal Bharti School at Pitampura, had just passed Class 11 and was to attend his first day in the new class on Monday. His 76 per cent marks were announced just two days back, Tara Anand, his maternal grandmother, told IANS.
The boy was the sole male heir in the joint family which included the families of two brothers of his father Ajay Arora. He is survived by his parents and two elder sisters.
"He was very enthusiastic about his birthday which falls on April 18. We had planned a trip out of the city to celebrate that as well as his Class 11 result," his grandmother told IANS.
The incident occurred just half a kilometre from his residence. The eyewitness, Sanchit and his sister Akshita, niece and nephew of Rakesh Dabas, President of Residential Welfare Association of GH-9 block at Paschim Vihar, informed the police and claimed that it was Mercedes Benz involved in the accident.
"They took Atul to nearby hospital but he was later declared brought dead. We have handed over the entire 15 seconds CCTV footage of the accident to the police. It is clearly visible in the CCTV footage that it was Mercedes car but I do not know why police are still trying to identify the car," Dabas told IANS.
"The family was very happy after we got the news that this time too he got good marks in Class 11, but we did not know our happiness will soon be turned into sorrow, and that we would lose Atul a day after. He was to turn 18 on April 18," Tara Anand said, sobbing.
"I last spoke to him on Saturday night when he had talked to me over phone at around 11 p.m. to share the good news of his excellent result. He was pleading with me to visit him but god wanted something different, that I would see him dead," she said.
Atul was spiritual by nature and a regular visitor of a temple located at Sundar Vihar.
On Sunday night, the priest 'Bhagat ji' of the temple called him to join in the distribution of the bhandara prasad. After completing the temple service, Atul reached home, but at 9 p.m the priest called him back to the temple and asked him to drop a person at some nearby place, Mohit, a family member, told IANS.
"Atul took his sister's Scooty, and after dropping the person was coming home. When he took a U-turn from a narrow road near the CNG-Petrol pump, a speeding Mercedes car rammed him head-on and dragged him along the road," Mohit said.
"The family regrets that they did not stop him from going a second time. If the priest had not called Atul back, he would be alive today," Tara Anand said.
"Although some locals and employees of the fuel station claim it was a Mercedes involved in the accident, but it is not yet clear in the CCTV footage. It appears to be a high-end car. The investigation is currently underway and we will make a breakthrough soon," Deputy Commissioner of Police, Rishi Pal, told IANS.
The boy's father, Ajay Arora, a DDA employee, is currently recuperating from paralysis while his two uncles, Vipin Arora and Rakesh Arora, have no son. Rakesh, who is settled in Belgium, had on Sunday morning left for Belgium.
The boy's mother, Sangeeta, and elder sister, Ruchi, are school teachers at Guru Nanak Public school and another elder sister, Archana, is a student of Delhi University.
Atul loved riding bikes and cars. He was driving his sister's Scooty when he met with the accident.
"Atul wanted to become a Chartered Accountant and open his own company. He had a good character and was an easy going person. We talked on Sunday morning and had planned to meet up in school. When we heard news of his death in school, we reached his residence," his classmate, R.N. Gupta told IANS.
The Arora family has been living in the three-storey DDA flat in Paschim Vihar for the past 20 years.
