Abhitej Sandhu, grandnephew of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and an AAP activist, died after he sustained grave injuries in a motorcycle accident at Maglad, near Rampur in Shimla district, about 135 km from here, late on Saturday evening.
He was admitted to Rampur hospital in a critical condition.
The 27-year-old, who lived with his family in Mohali, was on his way back from Kaza in the remote Spiti valley of Himachal Pradesh on a motorcycle when the two-wheeler skidded. Abhitej suffered head and rib injuries.
Abhitej was the son of Abhey Sandhu, who had contested the last Punjab Assembly election on the PPP ticket from Nawanshahr in 2012, but lost. The two had subsequently dissociated from the PPP, and had been campaigning for the Aam Aadmi Party.
Sources said the incident took place at Manglad when 27-year-old Abhitej Singh lost control of his motorcycle and it skidded off the road. Abhitej, an alumnus of Lawrence School in Sanawar, was riding a motorcycle on his way back home from Kaza in Spiti
He was being followed by his two friends, Gurpal Singh and Abhitesh, in a car. The motorcycle lost grip on a wet road, police said.
At the accident site, Abhitej was helped by passersby Vijay Kumar and Nadeem, who were also on the trail and stopped to pick him up. Abhitej informed them of his three friends who were also riding down. Abhitej was taken to the Civil Hospital at Khenari in Rampur in an ambulance of a hydro project at Maglad.
The Jhakri police registered a case of rash driving under Sections 279 and 337 of the IPC.
Abhitej was an alumnus of Lawrence School, Sanawar, and his Facebook page was flooded with messages of shock and grief.
The body was handed over to his father after postmortem and taken to Mohali for the cremation, which will be held at Mohali Cremation Ground, near Balongi, 11 am on Monday.
Abhitej Sandhu had reportedly campaigned in Himachal, Delhi and UP for AAP, along with senior leaders.
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal mourned the death in a tweet: “May his soul rest in peace. Heartfelt condolences to his family members.”
