In the early hours of Sunday, a tragic accident occurred in New Delhi's high-security diplomatic enclave, Chanakyapuri, when a speeding Mahindra Thar SUV struck two pedestrians. One pedestrian was killed, and the other is in critical condition in the hospital.
The accident took place approximately two kilometers from Rashtrapati Bhavan. Disturbingly, the body of the deceased lay on the road in the high-security zone for several hours before police arrived to manage the scene. The injured pedestrian was rushed to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.
The Thar has been seized by police, and the 26-year-old driver has been taken into custody. Liquor bottles were discovered inside the SUV, according to sources, which prompted a thorough forensic investigation to obtain more information. The driver admitted to the police that he had fallen asleep behind the wheel of the car he had borrowed from a friend, which led to him losing control and colliding with the pedestrians.
Police are currently looking into whether he was drunk when the collision occurred, though. The five-door Mahindra Thar Roxx, which suffered significant damage to its left front side, is registered in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.
The accident has once again brought the popular Mahindra Thar SUV into public focus. The vehicle, first launched in 2010, became a major success due to its rugged appearance and off-roading capabilities. Later, Mahindra introduced the Thar Roxx, a five-door model that ranged in price from Rs 13 lakh to Rs 23 lakh.
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Due to its frequent appearance in reels and short videos, the Thar has become a social media phenomenon. However, a string of incidents involving careless driving and reckless behaviour—often in the name of producing content for social media—have tarnished this popularity. As a result, the car has made headlines for all the wrong reasons.
For instance, a video of a young woman filming herself while sitting on the roof of a moving Thar in Gurugram went viral just last week. The video triggered a discussion about road safety and brought to light the risky actions people will take to gain attention on social media. A Thar purposefully struck a scooter last month in Jammu and then reversed to run over the scooterist, seriously injuring them, according to another incident that was caught on camera.
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