Mahesh A, the brother-in-law of Darshan N, who was allegedly killed by a couple in a case of road rage in Bengaluru, said he got a call at 12.30 am on October 26 from his friend about the accident.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Mahesh, an autorickshaw driver, said Darshan worked for Zepto and left home in the evening after Varun visited him. Darshan, a 24-year-old food delivery agent, was allegedly killed by the couple following a road rage incident late on October 25.
The police have arrested Manoj Kumar, 32, and his wife Aarati Sharma, 30, for allegedly ramming their car into Darshan’s two-wheeler after he reportedly brushed past their vehicle.
“Usually, he returned home at 11 pm. He did not come home that day,” said Mahesh, who is married to Darshan’s sister Bhavya.
“We slept thinking he might stay at his friend’s place, but around 12 am, I received a call from Varun, who said that there was a road accident, and his hand had been fractured. When I asked about Darshan, he said he was injured,” he said.
‘He could have survived’
Mahesh, who lives in Uttarahalli, drove 7 km in his auto-rickshaw to reach the accident site at Shreerama Layout in J P Nagar 7th phase.
“When I reached, Varun was sitting with his injured hand, and when I asked him, he showed me the spot where Darshan was lying. When I went there, he was in an unconscious state. I was really shocked that no one cared to take him to the hospital for three hours, and people had been walking by without even paying any attention,” he added.
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According to the Bengaluru police probe, the accident occurred around 9.30 pm.
Later, Mahesh shifted him to a private hospital where the doctors said Darshan had died 20 minutes ago. “If he had been shifted to the hospital on time, he could have survived,” said Mahesh.
He added that they initially filed a case at the J P Nagar Traffic Police Station. He said he came to know that the couple had deliberately hit their brother-in-law with their vehicle, and it was not an accident, only when the police informed them.
Asked whether Darshan or Varun were aware that they were being followed by the couple after the road rage incident, he said that, according to Varun, they were more focused on delivering the food to the customer.
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Darshan, a Class 10 dropout, lost his mother two years ago. His sister Bhavya said he was not just helping his father but also her family.
“He did a lot of odd jobs, and for the last two years, he was working as a delivery agent, first at Swiggy and then with Zepto. He used to earn somewhere around Rs 25,000, and was helping us financially. We want justice,” she said.