Rakshit Ravish Chaurasia, a 23-year-old law student, was arrested on charges of allegedly ramming his car into several other vehicles in Vadodara, Gujarat, and killing a woman while injuring four others. The accident took place late Thursday night at around 12:30 a.m. near Muktanand Crossroads in the Karelibaug area.
Accused Blame Potholes
Though eyewitnesses say he was drunk and chanting ‘another round, another round’ after exiting the car, Chaurasia protested that he was not drunk. Addressing media persons, he said that he was going at 50 kmph when the car lost its balance owing to potholes on the road.
“We were going ahead of the scooty, we were turning right and there was a pothole on the road. There was a scooty and a car while we were turning right… The car slightly touched the other vehicle and the airbag opened suddenly, our vision was hampered and the car went out of control. We were going at 50 km/hour. There were no people at that time, just a scooter and a car…I had no idea. I did not do any party, I went for Holika Dahan and was not drunk… Today, 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 and whatever they want that should happen,” he informed the media.
#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
He continued to explain the car as automatic and, having released the airbags, he panicked and pressed the accelerator instead of the brakes by mistake. He also denied claims of screaming a girl’s name, saying he had uttered it ‘in a state of panic’.
Social Media Reactions
Chaurasia’s words elicited scathing reaction on social media. A person named Tanmoy asked, “Is he now released from police custody? A violent crime suspect is conducting a press meet. Another user likened the case to the Pune hit-and-run case, in which a teenage culprit was let off with a condition to write an essay on road safety. “This is highly surprising, police arrested & released Rakshit Ravish Chaurasia. He is a law student at MS University, killed one woman & injured 7 others after he ran over several 2-wheelers.”. Essay is downloading, wrote a post.
Police Investigation
The victim has been found to be Hemali Patel, who was driving a scooter when the accident occurred. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Panna Momaya said Chaurasia, a native of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, lives in a PG accommodation in Vadodara.
The vehicle that was involved in the accident was owned by his friend, Mit Chauhan, who was in the co-driver’s seat when the accident happened. The authorities are trying to trace Chauhan.
An eyewitness video captures Chauhan emerging from the car, whose front is entirely destroyed, and accusing Chaurasia of the crash. Chaurasia, who is seen to be incoherent, keeps yelling, “Another round? Another round?”before it was attacked by pedestrians and wheeled away by the police.
The CCTV of the incident shows the badly driven car plowing into two scooters, throwing off the passengers and dragging them before it crashed.
DCP Momaya said, “The car was largely overspeeding. It could also be a case of drunk driving. We will conduct his medical test to see if he was drunk or not.” The police also checked that Chaurasia had a valid driver’s license.
