On June 25, 2026, 34-year-old event management professional Sarthak Mattoo was tragically killed in a hit-and-run accident on Delhi’s Rajokri flyover after a speeding Mahindra Thar rammed his motorcycle from behind. While Sarthak’s family and his colleague, Akash Deep Choudhary the first to reach the hospital are pleading for strict justice and highlighting the critical delay in medical care, the police have arrested the alleged driver, Apurv Singh, and detained the vehicle’s leaseholder, Sagar Saha. Both suspects have been sent for medical testing to check for alcohol consumption. The latest developments show growing public outrage across social media platforms as the grieving family demands a fast-tracked investigation, bringing the spotlight back onto India’s severe hit-and-run laws and commuter safety.
The phrase “Sarthak’s killers must not escape” is no longer just a hashtag circulating on social media; it is a desperate plea for justice and a solemn vow. For Akash Deep Choudhary, a Gurugram-based entrepreneur, these words carry the crushing weight of a tragedy that unfolded in the early hours of June 25, 2026. Sarthak Mattoo, a talented professional, was mowed down by a recklessly driven SUV on his way to work. He was killed just two days shy of his 34th birthday. As Sarthak’s family and colleagues grieve, his story has triggered widespread outrage across India, shining a harsh light on the country’s unchecked hit-and-run epidemic and the agonizing vulnerability of everyday commuters.
The Fatal Morning: 6:45 AM
On Thursday morning, Sarthak left early from his Gurugram home on his motorcycle. He had recently joined Enout, an event management company, after returning to India from the United Kingdom. He was heading toward Noida for a major project assignment, riding slightly ahead of his teammates who were following behind in cars. Sarthak never made it to his destination.
At approximately 6:45 AM, Akash Deep Choudhary, the co-founder of the company, received a frantic phone call. A passerby on the Rajokri flyover had discovered Sarthak lying in a pool of blood, critically injured. The good Samaritan had used the dying rider’s own fingerprint to unlock his phone and called the last dialed number. Akash recalled that the man told him Sarthak was in very bad shape, with both his legs severely crushed. Akash rushed toward the Rajokri flyover, dialing the passerby again while en route. By then, a Police Control Room van had arrived at the scene. Recognizing that every second mattered in a severe trauma case, Akash begged the police officer over the phone to bypass distant government facilities and rush Sarthak to the nearest private hospital equipped for critical care.
A Birthday Promise Cut Short
By the time Akash arrived at the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre in Vasant Kunj, it was already too late, and doctors informed him that Sarthak had been declared dead on arrival. Sarthak had only been with the company for three months, having just successfully cleared his probation period. He was remembered by his peers as one of the brightest talents on the team, recently chosen for high-profile projects in Thailand and Bengaluru.
The most agonizing task fell upon Akash, who had to pull Sarthak’s emergency contact details from the company database to call his mother. Unable to break the devastating news over the phone, he merely told her that Sarthak had met with an accident and was injured. When she finally reached the hospital and learned the truth that her only child was dead—she went into a state of shock, unable to utter a single word for hours. Two days later, on June 27, instead of cutting a cake for his 34th birthday, Sarthak’s family lit his funeral pyre.
The Investigation: Tracing the Mahindra Thar
Witness accounts and preliminary investigations revealed that a Karnataka-registered Mahindra Thar was speeding and making erratic, dangerous lane changes on the highway. The SUV rammed Sarthak’s motorcycle from behind on the flyover, causing him to lose balance and slide directly under its wheels. Rather than stopping to render aid, the driver executed a sharp turn and fled the scene. A First Information Report was registered at the Vasant Kunj South Police Station under sections pertaining to rash driving, causing death by negligence, and endangering life.
According to Delhi Police statements, investigators successfully traced the vehicle through its registration trail, discovering it belonged to a private corporate firm based in Bengaluru. The vehicle was leased to Sagar Saha, a 29-year-old native of Bihar working in Bengaluru but residing in Gurugram. When picked up by police, Saha claimed he was sitting in the front passenger seat at the time of the crash, while his friend, 30-year-old Apurv Singh, was behind the wheel. Apurv Singh, a software QA tester, was subsequently apprehended by authorities, and both men underwent medical and blood examinations at Safdarjung Hospital to determine if alcohol played a role in the crash.
A Broken System and the Plea for Justice
The tragedy has ignited immense grief and anger, amplified by public statements from Sarthak’s father, Surender Mattoo. In emotional appeals broadcast across news channels and social media, he questioned the timeline of the investigation and directly appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for a transparent, fast-tracked probe. The family has expressed deep concern over the delay between the accident and the blood alcohol testing of the accused, demanding that the severe reality of hit-and-run incidents be met with the absolute highest tier of legal accountability.
For Akash Deep Choudhary and the millions of citizens following the case on X and YouTube under the justice campaign, the anger stems from a painful truth: Sarthak might have survived had the occupants of the Thar simply stopped. Akash stated that in accidents like these, the first few minutes are everything, and if Sarthak had been taken in sooner, he might still be alive. He emphasized that people hitting someone and running away in hopes of escaping keeps happening in India, and the community cannot allow this case to fade away from public memory.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
The tragic loss of Sarthak Mattoo is a painful reminder of the widening empathy deficit on Indian roads. A hit-and-run is not merely a traffic violation; it is a profound moral failure. When a driver chooses to flee a scene rather than stopping to help an injured human being, they choose self-preservation over the preservation of life. Real justice requires more than just systemic accountability and strict laws; it demands a cultural shift towards kindness, responsibility, and coexistence on our streets.
We must build a society where basic humanity triumphs over fear and entitlement, ensuring that our roads become spaces of safe passage rather than lethal traps. Sarthak’s family deserves a swift, transparent investigation, but above all, they deserve the solace of knowing our collective conscience will no longer tolerate such apathy.
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