Cops Picked Up Vadodara Crash Accused Last Month, Was Freed After Apology

Less than a month before his dash on a Vadodara road left a woman dead and seven others injured, 20-year-old Rakshit Chaurasia had a brush with law and was let off with an apology. A lawyer had dragged him and his friends to the city's Sayajiganj police station after they created a commotion at a residential apartment in Fatehganj.

The lawyer's office is in the building where Rakshit and his friends had gathered for a party. Bothered by the noise, the lawyer asked them to keep it quiet. The youngsters allegedly threatened and abused them. The lawyer called in the cops and residents of the building confronted the rabble-rousers. Police took the youngsters to the police station, where they had to submit a written apology before they were allowed to leave. No complaint was filed and the station diary mentions the compromise between the two sides.

Cut to March 13, a car driven by Rakshit hits three vehicles, killing a woman and injuring seven others in Vadodara's Karelibaug area. A viral video shows him stepping out of the car and screaming incoherent words, including "another round", "Nikita" and "Om Namah Shivay". Eyewitnesses have said he was intoxicated. Rakshit has been arrested and police are looking for co-passenger Pranshu Chouhan. Rakshit, a law student at MS University, now faces a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Police have said they are investigating if he was drunk at the time of the incident.

Holi Turns Tragic For Victims

Hemali Patel, 37, was out with her husband Purav to buy colours for their daughter the evening before Holi. They were on a scooter when the car driven by Rakshit hit the two-wheeler. Hemal died on the spot and Purav is critical. The car hit two more two-wheelers -- one with siblings Vikas, Komal and Jayesh and another with Nisha Shah and her children Jainil and Rency. All of them are undergoing treatment for serious injuries.

#WATCH | Vadodara, Gujarat: One woman has died, and four others are injured after an overspeeding four-wheeler rammed into a two-wheeler (14/03).

Accused Rakshit Ravish Chaurasia claims, " We were going ahead of the scooty, we were turning right and there was a pothole on the… pic.twitter.com/7UMundtDXH

— ANI (@ANI) March 15, 2025

"I Wasn't Drunk"

Rakshit has claimed he was not drunk-driving. "We were going ahead of a scooter, we were turning right and there was a pothole. The car touched the other vehicle and the airbag opened. Our vision was hampered and the car went out of control," he told the media. He said he was driving at 50 km/ph and was not drunk. Rakshit also claimed that he was not returning from a party and had gone to attend a Holika Dahan event. "I was told that one woman has died and a few have sustained injuries. I want to meet the family of the victims, it is my fault," he said. A student of law, Rakshit is originally from Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh.

#WATCH | Gujarat | Vadodara police bring the accused of the Vadodara accident, Rakshit Ravish Chaurasia, to the spot for the crime scene recreation

One woman died, and seven others were injured after an overspeeding four-wheeler rammed into a two-wheeler yesterday early morning pic.twitter.com/XJYj8P3dpN

— ANI (@ANI) March 15, 2025

Struggling To Walk, Hands On Ears

A video shared by news agency ANI shows Rakshit at the crime spot as police try to reconstruct the events of Thursday night. He is seen struggling to walk as police personnel hold him by the arms. Rakshit was roughed up by a crowd after the series of crashes and his face too has injury marks. During the crime reconstruction visit, he is seen holding his ears -- a gesture often used to apologise -- while cops put him into a police van.

What Police Said

The crash has made national headlines and shaken Vadodara. The city's Police Commissioner Narasimha Komar said multiple teams are probing the incident. "Three other vehicles are involved in the incident. Multiple investigative teams are investigating the incident. They are recovering the evidence from the crime scene. Police are tracking the movement of the driver and co-passenger of the four-wheeler. Further investigation is underway," he said.