The SUV that crashed into a crowd on a bridge in Ahmedabad last week was involved in other accidents
Another case has been filed against the college student who had allegedly crashed his Jaguar into a crowd in Ahmedabad last week and killed nine people. The fresh FIR was filed after a probe revealed he had rammed the same SUV into a temple on the Ahmedabad-Sanand road on January 1, the police said.
According to the new FIR, Tathya Patel crashed his SUV into a temple on the Ahmedabad-Sanand Road in the early hours of January 1, damaging its pillar. The crash led to the collapse of a portion of the temple terrace, sub-inspector Vijaysinh Gohil said today.
Mr Patel (20) has been charged under relevant sections of the Motor Vehicle Act and Sections 279 (rash driving) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) of the Indian Penal Code.
Though the temple crash incident occurred seven months back, neither the villagers nor the temple priest approached the police since they didn't know the identity of the person responsible for the damage, said Mr Gohil.
"During his remand in the ISKCON flyover case, Tathya Patel confessed to having crashed the same SUV into a temple's pillar on January 1 and driving away. Some of his friends were also with him in the car. After his confession, we took the complaint from a villager and registered an FIR against Tathya Patel on Tuesday," he added.
As per the FIR, a concrete pillar of the temple was damaged due to the impact of the car, resulting in the collapse of a portion of the temple terrace.
The complaint was lodged by former sarpanch Manaji Thakor.
Nine people, including a police constable, were killed when the speeding Jaguar car, driven by Patel, plowed into a crowd gathered at an accident site on the ISKCON bridge in Ahmedabad on July 20, the police said.
Mr Patel, who was also injured, was arrested the same day on various charges including 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder'. He was sent to jail on Tuesday.
The accused's father, Pragnesh Patel, was also arrested for allegedly threatening people on the flyover.
On July 22, the traffic police in Ahmedabad registered an FIR against an unidentified driver for crashing his SUV into the front wall of a restaurant on July 3. The FIR was registered on a complaint by restaurant owner Mihir Shah, the police said.
Though Tathya Patel was not named in that FIR, the police claimed that during questioning, he "confessed" to have rammed his Thar into the compound wall of a restaurant on July 3.