Vijay Karan Faces Probe In Hit-And-Run Case

Former Delhi Police Commissioner Raja Vijay Karan now faces a magisterial inquiry for allegedly being involved in a hit-and-run case four years ago. The police's "untraced report," giving a clean chit to Karan, has been rejected by Metropolitan Magistrate V K Sharma.

Rejecting the police report, Mr Sharma said that the police did not probe the case properly. Mr Sharma said that there is need for an "unbiased" investigation and a fair report.

On 20 Dec 1996, Karan, who was allegedly driving a Tata Estate, had hit two persons on a scooter on the Lodhi Road flyover. The victims were identified as Shyam and his mother Moni Devi.

However, the police had unidentified the vehicle as Pajero and had submitted before the court that because the vehicle could not be traced, the case should be closed.

When the case came for final hearing on Feb 23, Shyam told the court that he had identified the driver of the vehicle as Raja Vijay Karan from a television interview, which the latter had given to one of the news channels.

Shyam also told the court that he had approached the police and informed them that he had been able to identify the driver when the police drove him away and asked him to forget case.

On Shyam's statement, Mr Sharma has referred the case to Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sunita Dhingra Seghal, who will appoint a magistrate to conduct an inquiry.