A woman was killed and at least four people injured after a drunk driver crashed his car in western India’s Vadodara city.
The incident took place in the early hours of Friday near a busy intersection in the city’s Karelibaug area in Gujarat state. According to eyewitnesses and surveillance footage, a speeding black car lost control and crashed into a scooter and hit several people.
Hemaliben Patel was killed instantly while two girls aged 10 and 12, a 35-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man were left seriously injured, NDTV reported.
Indian social media erupted in outrage after a video of the accident and the driver’s reaction appeared online.
In the video, a young man, later identified as Meet Chauhan, exits the wrecked car and says in Hindi: “I did not do anything, he was driving the car.”
That is when the driver, identified as law student Rakshit Chaurasia, steps out and shouts: “Another round, another round!”
#WATCH | Gujarat: One woman died in an accident after a four-wheeler collided with a two-wheeler in Vadodara. pic.twitter.com/HL7nFbk43a
— ANI (@ANI) March 14, 2025
Mr Chaurasia was subsequently arrested. “A four-wheeler rammed into a two-wheeler and one woman died in the accident. The accused driver has been caught,” joint commissioner of police Leena Patil told the press. “This is a case of drunk driving.”
In the video, Mr Chaurasia appears incoherent and is caught by bystanders.
“A car was moving from Sangam to Muktananad crossroad. It met with an accident while overspeeding. Police reached the spot and arrested one accused, Rakshit Ravish Chaurasia. Search to arrest the other accused, Meet Chauhan, is underway,” deputy police commissioner Panna Momaya told the press. “The car belonged to his friend Meet Chauhan, who was sitting in the co-driver’s seat when Chaurasia rammed it into some two-wheelers at full speed while going towards Muktanand circle.”
Speaking to reporters outside the local police station, Mr Chaurasia denied being under the influence of alcohol and claimed his airbag had deployed unexpectedly and caused the accident.
“The airbag deployed suddenly and I could not see anything ahead. It was also difficult to control the car as it was automatic,” he said, according to Times Now, adding that two or three scooters suddenly came into his path.
Several eyewitnesses told local media that the speeding car took a sharp turn before it hit a scooter.
Mr Chaurasia claimed he did not know the crash had resulted in a death.
A preliminary investigation found that Mr Chaurasia was under the influence of alcohol as well as drugs, police said, adding that they would be sending his blood samples for drug tests.
