Chandigarh: Run over by Thar over enmity, 1 dead, 7 booked
Vehicle-Ramming Incident in Chandigarh's Dariya Area Leaves One Dead, Seven Charged
Bharatmorningnews.com – A long-simmering feud between two neighbourhood groups in Chandigarh turned lethal in the small hours of Sunday morning, when a Mahindra Thar was driven directly into two brothers walking near a local hotel in the Dariya locality. One of the men, 34-year-old Pawan Kumar of Indira Colony, died at Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, while his brother Suraj survived with injuries severe enough to warrant transfer to the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) for further treatment.
The collision occurred at approximately 12:30 a.m., according to police records. By the time emergency responders reached the scene, Pawan had already sustained fatal injuries. His brother was rushed to GMSH-16, where doctors stabilised him before referring him to PGIMER, the city's premier tertiary-care medical institution, for specialised intervention.
Seven Residents Booked Under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita
Within hours of the incident, police moved to formally charge seven men, all residents of Indira Colony, with offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita — the criminal code that replaced the Indian Penal Code in 2024. The accused have been identified as Malkit (alias Kaka), Govinda, Monu (alias Kandu), Suraj (alias Jatwa), Mohant, Subhash, and Arvind.
The charges span multiple sections of the new code:
Section 103(1) covers murder; Section 109 addresses attempt to murder; Section 190 penalises unlawful assembly; and Section 191(2) deals with rioting. Together, these provisions signal that investigators view the episode not as a simple traffic accident but as a deliberate, coordinated act of violence carried out by a group acting in concert.
Sequence of Events and the Role of Two Vehicles
Police reconstruction of the night's events indicates that the accused were travelling in two vehicles — a Mahindra Thar and a Mahindra Scorpio — when they allegedly spotted the two brothers in the vicinity of a local hotel. The Thar was then driven into the pair. The Scorpio's presence suggests a second vehicle was used either to escort, observe, or provide cover, a detail investigators are scrutinising through available surveillance footage.
The two groups involved, police noted, had maintained an old enmity. No new provocation was identified on the night in question; the confrontation appears to have been rooted in a dispute that had persisted for some time between members of the two neighbourhoods. The deliberate choice to use a heavy SUV as a weapon, rather than confronting the brothers on foot, underscores the degree of premeditation investigators believe was involved.
Instagram Threats and the Question of Prior Intimidation
The victim's family has raised an additional layer to the case, alleging that members of the opposing group had sent threatening messages to the brothers through Instagram in the period leading up to the Sunday morning attack. Police have acknowledged the claim and are in the process of verifying the digital trail — examining message timestamps, sender accounts, and content to determine whether a pattern of intimidation preceded the physical assault.
If substantiated, such prior threats could strengthen the prosecution's narrative of premeditation and potentially influence sentencing considerations under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which allows courts to weigh antecedent conduct when determining the gravity of an offence.
Investigation Status and Manhunt
As of the latest police update, a manhunt is underway to apprehend those among the seven charged who have not yet been formally detained. Investigators are also reviewing CCTV footage captured by cameras in the Dariya area to establish the precise sequence of events — including the timing of the approach, the speed at which the Thar was driven, and whether the Scorpio played an active role in the manoeuvre.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which came into force on 1 July 2024, introduced several structural changes to India's criminal law, including revised definitions of offences and updated sentencing frameworks. Sections 103 and 109, which govern murder and attempt to murder respectively, carry penalties that can extend to life imprisonment or, in aggravated circumstances, the death penalty. Sections 190 and 191(2) address collective conduct — unlawful assembly and rioting — and are typically invoked when multiple persons act together to commit or facilitate a crime.
Broader Context: Vehicle-As-Weapon Incidents in Urban India
The Dariya incident belongs to a troubling pattern of vehicle-ramming attacks that have surfaced in Indian cities in recent years, often linked to personal vendettas, property disputes, or neighbourhood rivalries. The Mahindra Thar, a compact SUV popular in northern India for its rugged build and relatively high ground clearance, has featured in several such cases, its mass and momentum making it a particularly effective instrument of deliberate impact.
For residents of Chandigarh's residential sectors, the episode raises questions about late-night safety in areas where disputes between local groups can escalate quickly. Police have indicated that enhanced patrolling and closer monitoring of known friction points between neighbourhoods will follow, though no formal timeline for such measures has been announced.
The family of Pawan Kumar, meanwhile, awaits both justice in the courts and answers regarding the digital threats that preceded the fatal collision. Suraj's recovery at PGIMER remains under medical observation, and his condition will be a factor in how the prosecution frames the attempt-to-murder charge against the accused.
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