The car owner in the Ghaziabad Audi crash case has now approached the court claiming that he has no connection with the case. In his petition, Dr Manish Rawat, a neurosurgeon, has sought the court’s help to clarify if there are any charges against him. Cops were reportedly closing in on him and had named him as a suspect after it emerged that the alleged driver, who was the prime accused, had made false admission in the case.
Rawat’s move comes a day after Syed Imtiyaz Qadri, who had earlier said he was driving the car at the time of the accident, was arrested by Maharashtra police. He had reportedly told the police that he was paid Rs 7,000 to say in court that he was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident. Based on Qadri’s mobile locations and call details, the investigators too have claimed that he was in Bareilly and not at the accident site on the night of January 27, strengthening the theory that his admission was false.
The accident took place on the night of January 27, in which four people were killed in Ghaziabad when a speeding Audi Q7 owned by Dr Manish Rawat rammed into an auto rickshaw. Rawat had fled the spot and appeared before the police a week later admitting that he was in the car at the time, but the vehicle was being driven by his driver ‘Ishaq Ahmad.’ However, ‘Ishaq Ahmad’ later turned out to be Syed Imtiyaz Qadri who has since hinted at a conspiracy to protect influential people in the case.
“The case was transferred from Indirapuram police station to Ghaziabad crime branch and I have been called time and again by the investigating officer even though I have no connection with the investigation. I have come to know that I am being framed as an accused, based on wrong statements,” the petition submitted by the doctor, said.
The doctor has requested the court for a report from the investigation officer and wants to know what case is made out, what charges were pressed against him and based on what evidence.
The petition was filed on April 13, when HT had reported about Qadri’s arrest by police from Nala Sopara police station in Mumbai metropolitan region. Dr Manish Rawat did not respond to calls made by HT.
“We have filed the petition as my client is not linked to the investigation. It is a simple case of accident and if some person impersonated, it is his mistake. My client has no connection with this. The court has now sought report from the investigating officer,” said Subodh Tyagi, the advocate who filed the petition on behalf of the doctor.
Based on the petition, the court has sought report from the case investigating officer. The officer, Jaipal Singh, said that he has recommended charges against the doctor during case investigation and also against Raj Kumar who produced himself as Qadri’s case pursuer and helped him obtain bail from Ghaziabad ocurt on January 31.
Ishaq Ahmad, the truck driver, has already given his statements to investigating officer and stated to him that Qadri misused the photocopy of his driving license. Ishaq has also alleged a larger conspiracy under which Qadri was ‘paid’ to produce himself as the driver of the Audi car.
