Kanpur Lamborghini crash | Tobacco baron's son to undergo medical exam, no arrests yet

Kanpur: The tobacco baron's son allegedly driving the speeding Lamborghini that ploughed into pedestrians, injuring six people, will be examined to ascertain whether he suffers from epilepsy or any other medical condition, police said on Monday, a day after the latest crash involving a recklessly driven luxury car grabbed headlines.

No arrests have been made yet in the accident that took place in broad daylight on Sunday afternoon. An FIR has been registered an "unidentified driver", officials said. However, Shivam Mishra, son of Banshidhar Exports Pvt Ltd's owner K K Mishra who has been under the IT department's scanner, is part of the investigation, they said.

The accident involving the Lamborghini Revuelto, an Italian luxury sports car that costs upwards of Rs 10 crore, took place on VIP Road in Kanpur's upscale Gwaltoli area around 3.15 pm. SHO of the area Santosh Gaur was removed from his post and sent to police lines.

"He failed to follow due procedure after the accident... The lapse amounts to negligence. Immediate action has been taken," Commissioner of Police Raghubir Lal told PTI.

The place was buzzing with people and vehicles at the time. Recalling the horror, eyewitnesses said the car first hit an autorickshaw and then crashed into a stationary motorcycle, flinging its rider nearly 10 feet into the air.

The car mounted the motorcycle's front wheel and dragged it for some distance before hitting an electric pole and coming to a halt.

The black Lamborghini with a Delhi number plate, DL 11 CF 4018, has been seized and sent for mechanical inspection, police said.

Angry locals gathered at the spot after the accident and surrounded the car, forcing the driver to remain inside. Witnesses alleged that private bouncers accompanying the accused tried to push back the crowd, escalating tensions.

Police rushed to the spot, rescued the driver and shifted him and the injured to a private hospital, officials said.

At the police station, the victims and local residents alleged that associates of the accused misbehaved with them. They also claimed that police was going soft on Mishra due to his family's influence.

Sonu Tripathi, one of the injured, told reporters that he and his cousin were standing near their motorcycle when the car hit them. He said his cousin fell and two other persons were flung onto the footpath.

On Monday, as speculation swirled that Shivam Mishra may have been inebriated, his family stepped into say that he has been suffering from epilepsy.

"We then decided to subject him to a medical examination to check whether epilepsy or another medical condition could have contributed to the crash," an official said.

Lal said further action would depend on the medical findings.

"If the tests show that he was medically unfit to drive, we will examine how he obtained a driving licence," added Lal. He said the role of officials of the Regional Transport Office (RTO) would also be scrutinised if any violation of norms is found.

"Strict instructions have been issued to complete the investigation within the stipulated time and file the chargesheet at the earliest," Lal told PTI.

"We will leave no stone unturned to ensure legal action against the accused," he said.

Footage from multiple CCTV cameras installed at nearby shops, traffic intersections and residential buildings is being examined to reconstruct the sequence of events and determine the speed of the vehicle at the time of the crash.

Mishra is under close surveillance to prevent any attempt to evade the investigation, according to police.

The FIR was registered under charges of rash and negligent driving and causing hurt based on a complaint filed by Taufiq, one of the injured.

Taufiq was thrown several metres and suffered serious leg injuries. The remaining injured sustained fractures and bruises, police said.

All injured have been discharged from the hospital.

K K Mishra's Banshidhar Exports Pvt. Ltd. supplies tobacco to gutkha manufacturers in the region.

Officials said the Mishras had come under the scanner of the Income Tax Department in March 2024. The department conducted searches at multiple premises in Delhi and Kanpur, and found luxury vehicles and around Rs 4.5 crore in cash.

Among the seized cars was a Rolls-Royce Phantom, McLaren, Porsche and the black Lamborghini Revuelto involved in Sunday's accident. Many of them bore the distinctive registration number "4018", the official added.

Jewellery and expensive watches were also seized.

Sunday's accident highlights once again the dangers of powerful cars speeding through often congested streets of India's cities.

In May 2024, for instance, two IT professionals were killed in Pune after a speeding Porsche, allegedly driven by a minor and the son of a prominent builder, rammed their motorcycle. The case triggered nationwide outrage over juvenile justice laws and drunk driving, and the accused was later ordered to be tried as an adult.

In July last year, a drunk driver of an Audi car allegedly ran over five people, including two couples and an eight-year-old girl, injuring them while they were sleeping on a footpath in Delhi's Vasant Vihar.

Before that, in March, two labourers were injured when a red Lamborghini allegedly hit them while they were working on a footpath in Noida.

And in 2023, nine people were killed and several injured after a speeding Jaguar car allegedly driven by a businessman's son rammed into a crowd on ISKCON Bridge in the early hours of July 20, 2023.