Following cops' failure, Uttarakhand woman hunts down son’s killer after more than one year

Dehradun: A woman, who lost her son in a hit-and-run two years ago, hunted down the accused driver after more than a year, when the police closed the case citing a lack of evidence.

Armed with clinching evidence, the woman Lalita Chaudhary met Dehradun SSP Prameendra Singh Dobal on April 4 and requested him to reopen the case.

The police officer assured her that strict action would be taken against the accused and that the case would be reopened.

Lalita’s 18-year-old son, Kshitij Chaudhary, was hit by an over-speeding vehicle while walking on a road in Prem Nagar years ago. The driver had fled.

Passersby rushed Kshitij to a hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries after a day.

Lalita, a resident of Sahsatra Dhara Road, alleged that although the police filed an FIR, they did not probe the case fairly.

After a few months, the police closed the case in 2024 and submitted a final report. But Lalita didn't give up and started looking for the accused driver.

She collected CCTV footage of the accident spot and its surrounding areas. For months, she trawled the footage, and at last she spotted the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run case.

She visited the RTO office to collect further information about the vehicle, the dumper.

Prem Nagar Police Station SHO Naresh Rathore told PTI that they need to take permission from the court to reopen the case. “New evidence will be examined, and based on it, the probe will begin. But for that, we have to take permission from the court,” he said.