Four labourers were killed and six others injured when a speeding car rammed into a night shelter in Dalibag locality in Hazratganj area in the wee hours on Sunday.
Around 35 labourers were sleeping in the shelter when a Hyundai i20, which was allegedly being driven at a high speed, crashed into it. Two of the people travelling in the car tried to escape after the tragedy but other labourers in the shelter caught hold of them and handed them over to the police.
The two occupants of the car — Ayush Kumar Rawat, son of a former Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA stays at Vishal Khand, Gomtinagar, and Nikhil Arora were allegedly drunk and have been arrested, police said. Nikhil is a son of a businessman and stays in an apartment in Gomtinagar. Both of them are close friends and often hang out together.
Around 1.15am owner of the car Nikhil was heading back home from Dalibagh when he ran inside the shelter home. The car mowed down people who were sleeping. As he tried to reverse the car, more people were injured. Daily wage labourers and rickshaw pullers sleep in the shelter home which has been erected by an NGO.
“Two of the accused, who were drunk, have been arrested and the car has also been seized,” said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manzil Saini.
The victims, aged between 30 and 37 years, were identified as Prithviraj, Abdul Kalam, Gokaran, Devraj and one unidentified – all daily wage earners from eastern Uttar Pradesh.
