"'Golden Hour' Medical Care Could Have Saved Delhi BMW Crash Victim": Cops

Navjot Singh - the Delhi man who died after a BMW X5 SUV driven by Gaganpreet Kaur rammed his motorcycle - was alive for 15 minutes after the crash and could have been saved if medical care had been provided in time, the police said in a 400-page chargesheet accessed by NDTV.

Referring to the post-mortem report, investigators concluded Singh's chances of survival 'reduced significantly due to a 'deliberately delay' in reaching a trauma or medical facility within the 'golden hour', i.e., the critical first 60 minutes after a severe injury or accident. 

The 400-page chargesheet said Kaur - who was also injured in the crash and had to be pulled out from under the wreckage of the car - and her husband, Parikshit Makkad, who was also in the vehicle helped Navjot Singh and his wife into a taxi and took them to hospital.

However, instead of directing the taxi to a nearby facility - such as the Delhi Cantonment Hospital 15 minutes away - they drove the couple to the Nulife Hospital in GTB Nagar, a two-floor nursing home with limited medical facilities located 19km away. The delay could have cost Singh his life, the police said.

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The chargesheet has argued the extra time it took to reach Nulife - which is co-owned by her father, which led police to wonder if there was an attempt to alter or destroy biological evidence. Attempts to shield Kaur, the chargesheet claimed, extended to falsely admitting her to the Intensive Care Unit.

Kaur countered allegations over delayed medical aid by insisting Singh and his wife were both at Nulife Hospital within 24 minutes. "Taking them to AIIMS or Venkateshwar Hospital would have taken 36 minutes. There was a 12 minute difference..." her counsel argued, pointing out also Kaur had behaved responsibly, both by taking Singh to a hospital and alerting the authorities instead of fleeing the scene.

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The cops, meanwhile, also accused Kaur and Makkad of having refused aid from an ambulance and paramedic who reached the crash site within minutes of the accident. However, in September, while arguing for bail, Kaur claimed otherwise - that the ambulance and paramedic refused to help.

Now, though, investigators have cleared both the driver and paramedic of blame, and also cleared the driver of a Delhi Transport Corporation bus that ran into the motorcycle after the crash.

The motorcycle carrying Singh, a senior officer in the Finance Ministry, and his wife, who was severely injured, was hit near the Delhi Cantonment Metro Station at 1.30 pm on September 14.

Police sources told NDTV the car was travelling at over 100 km per hour - a speed the German automotive giant said would have made it difficult for Kaur to control the vehicle - when it hit a concrete pillar, skidded off it and overturned, and then hurtled into the motorcycle.

Manufacturer BMW has provided a speed report but the car has also been sent to the government-run Forensic Science Laboratory to independently ascertain the exact speed, braking pattern and point, and impact details at the time of the crash.

Police said this information could strengthen its case against Kaur, which already includes 34 eyewitnesses' statements and who faces multiple charges, including culpable homicide.

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