Gurugram hit-and-run: SIT traces accused to club, probes 2-km chase before crash

Investigators looking into the Gurugram hit-and-run case involving woman biker Shivani Chauhan, known as Sia, have pieced together the sequence of events leading up to the crash, with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) finding that the accused had spent the night at a club before the collision on Golf Course Road.

According to police sources, Kalyan Bainsla, who was driving the car, and three friends had been at Empire Club Bar and Lounge in Sector 25 of Gurugram between midnight and 5 a.m. before leaving together. Lavnish was seated in the passenger seat at the time of the incident.

The first interaction between the car's occupants and Ms. Chauhan took place near Sector 53 Metro station. After a brief altercation, Lavnish allegedly instigated Mr. Bainsla to chase the biker, following which the car pursued her for around 1.5 to 2 kilometres before hitting her two-wheeler.

This sequence has become a key focus of the investigation as police try to establish whether the collision was an accident, as claimed by Mr. Bainsla, or a deliberate act following a chase, as alleged by Ms. Chauhan. The police have said the accused hurled abuses at the biker and tried to kill her during the chase.

The incident was captured by cameras mounted on Ms. Chauhan's sports bike and by her biker friends, with the footage later circulating widely on social media and triggering public outrage. Police initially registered a case under provisions relating to rash driving and endangering life. After examining CCTV footage and the video recorded by the biker, an attempt-to-murder charge was added to the FIR.

A five-member SIT, comprising the Station House Officer of Gurugram's Sector 55/56 police station, officials from the Sohna crime branch and other personnel, is investigating the case.

Mr. Bainsla, who was arrested in Rajasthan, and Lavnish were produced before a Gurugram court on Wednesday and sent to two days' police custody. The police sought their custody to recreate the sequence of events and establish how the collision occurred.

The SIT has also served notices on the two other occupants of the car. Their statements will be recorded as part of the investigation, after which the police will decide whether their arrest is required. The police have also sought CCTV footage from the club.

Meanwhile, blood and urine samples of the accused have been sent for forensic examination and the reports are awaited. As the arrests were made three days after the incident, police could not establish their blood alcohol concentration through an immediate test. The forensic reports are expected to help investigators determine whether the accused had consumed alcohol or any other substance before the incident.

Ms. Chauhan has alleged that the car's occupants were intoxicated and deliberately chased and hit her. Mr. Bainsla has denied intentionally ramming into her and told the police that the collision was an accident. Investigators are examining the competing claims through CCTV footage, witness statements and a reconstruction of the scene.

For Ms. Chauhan, the arrest of two men is only the beginning. She said she was not satisfied with the arrest of just two of the four occupants and demanded that all those involved face action.

"The mistake they made was trying to stop and harass a girl in broad daylight on the road and hitting her so hard that she could have even died," she said.

"I also want to say that their arrest is not something that gives me satisfaction. When people ask me whether they have been arrested, I feel that this is only the first part of the process. All four men should be arrested and given the strictest possible punishment, and an example should be set so that in the future, any man, whether in a car or on a bike, thinks ten times before harassing any girl," she said.