Chennai: Speeding Porsche kills auto driver, 8 others injured

Chennai: A reigning national racing champion’s joyride in a Porsche, in inebriated condition judging by the positive test in the driver’s blood alcohol content, culminated in a mishap that claimed the life of a 29-year-old auto rickshaw driver, who was resting in his vehicle, and left 8 persons injured during the small hours of Monday. About a dozen parked auto rickshaws were mangled in the incident.

The driver, Vikash Anand (22), son of a Supreme Court lawyer, had stepped out of a late night party from a luxury hotel in Nungambakkam after celebrating the victory of his brother’s team Tuti Patriots in the first edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) on Sunday night. His friend and owner of the Porsche, Charan Kumar (38), was with him in the car and he also tested positive for alcohol content in the blood test.

The deceased, identified as Arumugam (29), a native Tiruttani was among a group of auto rickshaw drivers from in and around Arakkonam and Tiruttani who usually congregate on Cathedral Road and spend the hours between 10 at night and 4 am there every day. At around 3 am, the speeding car hit the kerb ahead of the Poes Garden junction while heading towards the beach and swerved. The car then hit the median before ramming into a fleet of auto rickshaws parked opposite Dr Agarwal’s Eye Clinic on Cathedral Road.

Three auto rickshaws were mangled beyond repair and 8 others damaged while the luxury two-seater sports car was a virtual wreck. The two persons who were critically injured were rushed to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) while the rest were taken to the Government Royapettah Hospital (GRH). Varadan (54), of Tiruttani, is the other victim whose condition was still critical.

“At 3.10 am, I woke up after I felt a pain in my head coupled with the screeching noise of braking. A few autos had turned turtle, some were crushed and some others damaged. A few of the drivers were out of their vehicles while others were still stuck inside their autos. The sports car was also there but there was none present inside the car. Many of us were thrown off our vehicle, and gathered ourselves up,” said R. Ravi, an auto co-driver from Arakkonam, who was also injured in the accident.

The Adyar traffic police booked and arrested Vikash, resident of Giriappa Road, T Nagar, and Charan, resident of Prakasam Mudali street, under Sections 304 (ii) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 109 (abetment), and 114 (abettor present when offence is committed) of IPC.  

Preliminary investigations revealed that Vikash had already gone on a joyride in Charan's car and took him out again for another spin.

Both tested positive in the blood alcohol content test after the accident. Vikash is pursuing law degree at School of Excellence in Law (SOEL) in Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University. The wrecked Porsche, a Cayman S, is worth '1.3 crore.