PIONEER NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
The police arrested 22-year-old Vansh Katyal on Thursday, who reportedly killed four people and injured two near Sai Mandir in the Rajpur area of Dehradun on Wednesday evening. The incident occurred when Katyal, driving a Chandigarh-registered Mercedes at high speed, lost control of the vehicle and reportedly hit four pedestrians and a scooter near Uttaranchal Hospital. The pedestrians died on the spot, while the two individuals on the scooter sustained serious injuries, the Dehradun senior superintendent of police Ajai Singh said.
In a Press conference on Thursday, Singh informed that a case was registered based on a complaint filed by Sanjay Kumar, the uncle of one of the deceased, under sections 105, 125, 281, and 324 (4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). He stated that multiple police teams analysed CCTV footage and data of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras to trace the suspect. Police narrowed down on 11 vehicles matching the description of the Mercedes in the area at the time of the accident. One of them, a silver-grey Mercedes with damage on one side, became the primary suspect. Further investigation revealed that the vehicle was registered in Chandigarh.
The police tracked the car’s ownership history, learning that it was sold to Delhi-based dealers before being purchased by Jatin Prasad Verma, a businessman from Lucknow, who frequently visited Dehradun. According to Singh, the breakthrough came when the police located the abandoned vehicle near a vacant plot in the Sahastradhara area. “During inquiries, a local resident, Mohit Malik, revealed that his acquaintance, Vansh Katyal, had parked the car there at night, claiming it had developed a technical issue. Later, Katyal borrowed Mohit’s scooter to drop off his nephew in Jakhan before returning it. This led the police to Jatin Prasad Verma, who confirmed that his brother-in-law, Vansh Katyal, had taken the car on March 12,” he said. He further stated that with the investigation narrowing in on Katyal, he was apprehended near the ISBT in Dehradun on Thursday.
During interrogation, he revealed that he was originally from Moradabad and had moved to Dehradun after losing his job in Delhi. He was living in a paying guest accommodation near Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology at GMS Road. The SSP stated, “According to him, on the night of the accident, he had taken his brother-in-law’s Mercedes for a drive with his nephew. While returning, two scooters suddenly appeared in front of his car. As he tried to maneuver, he accidentally hit one of them from behind, lost control and crashed into four pedestrians walking along the road. After the accident, he abandoned the car at a vacant plot and sought help from Mohit to drop off his nephew. He then returned the borrowed scooter and went into hiding until the police caught him.”
