20-year-old dies after Delhi-Meerut Expressway crash near Lal Kuan, Ghaziabad

Ashu, 20, died at GTB Hospital in Delhi on Friday, a day after the car taking him from Delhi towards Aligarh collided with a canter on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway near the Lal Kuan underpass in Ghaziabad.

Police said Ashu had been missing from his Aligarh home for five days and was traced in Delhi. His father and a three-member police team — sub-inspector Upendra, head constable Narendra and recruit constable Ritik — were travelling with him in a Swift at about 5am on Thursday.

Police said the canter had missed the cut for the Lal Kuan underpass by about 50 metres and was attempting a U-turn on the expressway when the collision occurred. All five people in the car were seriously injured. Upendra died during treatment on Thursday, while Ritik remains critical at Yashoda Hospital in Kaushambi. Ashu’s father and constable Narendra are being treated at GTB Hospital.

In a complaint, Upendra’s brother Sanjeev alleged that the canter driver was driving negligently and at high speed. The driver left the scene and has not been traced, police said. Police have impounded the vehicle and registered an FIR under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provisions relating to causing death by negligence, endangering life and rash driving. Investigators said they are yet to establish the sequence of the collision and the canter’s speed.