Delhi BMW crash: Grieving father’s anguish - 'Why 17-km drive to hospital?'

BMW crash

For 80-year-old Balwant Singh, a retired Flying Officer, the last few hours have been an unending nightmare. His only son, Navjot Singh, is gone, killed in a horrific hit-and-run. His grief is sharpened by a searing question: why was his son taken to a hospital 17 kilometres away?

“If they had taken him to any nearby hospital — the Army hospital, AIIMS, any of them — and he had survived, we would have forgiven them. But they took him there. Whatever their reason was, I have lost my son,” Balwant told The Indian Express, struggling to catch his breath.

A Sunday outing ends in tragedy

The tragedy unfolded on Sunday afternoon. Navjot Singh, a 52-year-old senior Finance Ministry official and his wife, Sandeep Kaur, had visited the Bangla Sahib Gurdwara, a weekend ritual for the couple. After lunch at Karnataka Bhavan, they were heading home on their Triumph motorbike.

Around 1.15 pm, near the Delhi Cantonment Metro station, a BMW M5 rammed into their bike. The impact was devastating. Navjot was killed. His wife sustained injuries.

According to police, the woman behind the wheel, Gaganpreet Makkar, then drove the couple to Nulife Hospital in GTB Nagar, a journey of nearly 17 km from the crash site, passing several other medical facilities. Makkar was arrested on Monday.

A life of promise cut short

In the family’s middle-class home in Hari Nagar, grief hangs heavy. Balwant, sitting on a wooden chair, tries to process the six hours that shattered his world. He had watched his son leave the house at 11 am. By 5 pm, he saw his body.

Navjot Singh was a man of discipline and accomplishment. He had joined the government after clearing the SSC-CGL exam in 1995 and rose through the ranks to become Deputy Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs. He was due for a promotion in just two months.

“He had been training for his new role at IIM Lucknow for the past six weeks,” his father recalled, illustrating his dedication. “A relative of ours came from Australia during that time, but he refused to meet on weekdays — he didn’t want to miss even a single day of training.”

His career was illustrious, involving representing the government at international conferences, including a World Bank meeting in Madrid last year. “I had such dreams for him… He was only 52… still climbing. Where would he have reached if not for this? He didn’t deserve this,” Balwant said, his voice heavy with grief.

A family shattered

The loss is compounded by cruel timing. The couple’s son, Navnoor, turns 22 on Tuesday. What was meant to be a celebration has now become a tragedy. He received the news of his father’s death just as he was leaving a friend’s house after a sleepover.

“He had just completed his studies and started a job on August 1. What was to be a celebration has now ended with him telling the media about his father’s death,” said Bitty Singh, Navjot’s sister-in-law.

Sandeep Kaur is now recovering at Venkateshwar Hospital in Dwarka after receiving stitches to her head. The family awaits Navjot’s postmortem report. His last rites are scheduled for 2 pm on Tuesday.