Ahmedabad: A 19-year-old Class 12 student who allegedly rented a Mahindra Thar from Ahmedabad to “show off” at a school function was arrested on Thursday after he rammed three vehicles on a service road in Kalol, leaving several persons injured, police said.The accused, Hitesh Purbia, a resident of Borisana, hired the SUV along with two friends for a school event, investigators said. After refuelling at a nearby petrol pump, Purbia allegedly took the wheel and drove at high speed towards the venue.
According to the complaint, the accident took place near Ambedkar Bridge on the service road opposite Sanskriti Movieplex. Police said the Thar was driven on the wrong side when it first hit an Activa and then collided head-on with a motorcycle ridden by Shoaib Ahmed Sheikh, a resident of Mannat Park Society who runs a truck garage in Adalaj.The impact was so severe that Sheikh was flung into the air, eyewitnesses said, and his bike got wedged under the SUV. The Thar then ploughed into a loading rickshaw parked by the roadside, overturning it.Sheikh sustained serious fractures in his left leg and right hand. Two brothers travelling in the rickshaw suffered injuries to their hands and were given primary treatment at Kalol Civil Hospital. A two-year-old child was also among those injured.Kalol taluka police arrested Purbia and registered an offence of rash and negligent driving. Further investigation is underway.
