Assam actress arrested in hit-and-run case after victim's death in hospital

Guwahati: A female actor in Assam was arrested on Wednesday for her alleged involvement in a hit-and-run incident, in which a 21-year-old student died.

The accused, Nandini Kashyap was taken into policy custody hours after the victim, Samiul Haque, who was injured on July 25, died in a private hospital in Guwahati on Tuesday evening.

The incident took place on the night of July 25, when Kashyap was driving her SUV and hit the boy who was sitting on a scooter at Dakhingaon area in Guwahati. While the injured student was taken to hospital by some passerby, police acted only after his family lodged a complaint next day.

CCTV footages showed some passerby stopped Nandini's car after the student was hit but the actor did not help in taking the victim to a hospital. The accused, who was allegedly in inebriated state and was overspeeding, left the spot. The victim was first admitted to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital and was later shifted to a private hospital, where he succumbed to injuries on Tuesday evening.

"Our traffic police personnel did not get information when the accident took place. We acted after the complaint was lodged the next day. In the complaint, the accused's name was not mentioned but we identified the accused after investigation. We initially allowed the accused to go on bail as the sections under which the case was registered were bailable. But after the victim died last night, we added a non-bailable section and arrested her," deputy Commissioner of police (traffic), Guwahati, Jayanta Sarathi Borah told reporters in Guwahati on Wednesday.

Sources said Nandini has been booked under Section 106 of BNS that deals with hit-and-run cases.

The victim, hailing from Nalbari district, used to work with his father and continued his education at the same time. He was doing a diploma in electrical engineering from a Polytechnique college, his family members said. Sources said Nandini even initially refused to admit that the victim was hit by her car.

The incident angered many in Guwahati with some staging a protest in front of the hospital on Tuesday night demanding justice for Samiul's family.