'Mala fide intent': Police oppose BMW driver's bail

Opposing the bail plea of Gaganpreet Makkad, the woman behind the wheel of a BMW that fatally mowed down 52-year-old Navjot Singh, the Delhi Police on Wednesday told a city court that the accused acted with “mala fide intentions” by taking the victim to a far-off hospital with inadequate facilities, a decision that cost him his life.

- Arnabjit Sur

The submissions, placed before Patiala House Court judicial magistrate first class Ankit Garg and seen by HT, highlighted several aspects of the investigation that police said required deeper scrutiny. They argued that releasing Makkad at this stage would risk witness intimidation. It also noted that at the hospital, Makkad was seen “roaming around the ICU lobby”, even as the deceased's wife was lying unattended on a stretcher outside.

To be sure, HT reported on Tuesday that Makkad has close ties with the hospital where she took the victim, with her father listed as a director on two companies registered at the same address as the hospital, according to Union ministry of corporate affairs data and investigators.

In its written response, police said Makkad bypassed several nearby hospitals - including RR Hospital, Base Hospital, Delhi Cantonment Hospital, and AIIMS Trauma Centre - and instead directed that Singh and his wife Sandeep Kaur be taken to Nulife Multi-Speciality Hospital in GTB Nagar, nearly 20km from the crash site. “This showed the mala-fide intention of the accused and there are doubts on her bona fides which require further investigation,” it stated.

Police said that the accused took the victims to that hospital after speaking to her family members. “Her call detail records with her family members immediately after the incident are being probed.”

Police said that as a result, crucial moments were lost after the incident during which time, Navjot could have been saved, had he been taken to a nearby hospital.