Kanpur (UP), February 11 The investigation into the high-profile Lamborghini crash in Kanpur took a new turn on Wednesday when Mohan, the alleged designated driver of the luxury sports car, claimed that he, and not tobacco baron KK Mishra's son Shivam Mishra, was driving when the vehicle hit pedestrians on VIP Road, even as police maintained that evidence clearly establishes Shivam as the driver.
Speaking to reporters outside a court here on Wednesday, Mohan said he lost control of the car when Shivam, who was in the adjacent seat, suffered a sudden seizure just before the accident.
"I was driving the car when the accident happened. Suddenly, he had a seizure and fell on me. I got scared and was trying to hold him with one hand. The car hit a three-wheeler, climbed the divider, and stopped," he said.
He further claimed that the car's automatic locking system prevented him from stepping out immediately after the crash.
"I shifted him to the driver's seat and stepped outside. The glass was later broken," Mohan said.
The driver's counsel had moved a surrender application before the concerned court, and following this, Mohan appeared before the court on Wednesday to formally surrender, officials said.
However, the Gwaltoli police, in their report submitted to the court, did not name him as an accused in the case.
In view of the police stand, the court declined to accept his surrender, officials added.
The Lamborghini Revuelto, an Italian luxury sports car costing upwards of Rs 10 crore, crashed into pedestrians and vehicles on VIP Road in the upscale Gwaltoli area around 3 pm on Sunday. One of the injured, Taufeeq, later lodged an FIR.
Earlier, Shivam's father KK Mishra appeared at the Gwaltoli police station to record his statement on Tuesday and gave the same version.
"A driver and Shivam were in the car, and the driver was Mohan, not Shivam," he said.
However, KK Mishra later deviated from his earlier statement, saying he did not know who was driving at the time and that the matter should be investigated.
He also claimed that the car had developed a technical problem a day before and was taken out for testing after repairs. According to him, Shivam began losing consciousness while returning from Civil Lines.
"When the driver checked on him, the car slowed down, and an auto-rickshaw hit it," KK Mishra said, adding that security personnel in an accompanying SUV broke the window to rescue his son.
The family has maintained that Shivam suffers from epilepsy and is undergoing treatment in Delhi. They have denied allegations of over-speeding or intoxication.
The Kanpur Police, however, rejected these claims.
Police Commissioner Raghubir Lal told PTI that CCTV footage, eyewitness accounts, and other evidence indicate that Shivam was driving at the time of the crash.
Senior officers also referred to videos purportedly showing bystanders pulling a man believed to be Shivam from the driver's seat immediately after the impact.
The FIR, initially registered against an unidentified driver, was later amended to name Shivam as the accused. The car has been seized for forensic examination.
