NEW DELHI: The parents of 34-year-old Sarthak Mattoo, who was killed in a hit-and-run crash in southwest Delhi, have released an emotional video accusing authorities of failing to deliver justice and questioning the police investigation into the case.Fighting back tears, Sarthak’s father, Surender Mattoo, says he and his wife are “dead from inside” after losing their only child and claims the men accused in the case are “roaming free”.“Our only child was killed in a hit-and-run case on June 25. But nothing has happened. I don’t know what the police department is doing,” he says in the video.As his wife breaks down in tears, he continues, “They are roaming free, while we are grieving. They left my son on the roadside to die.”The couple’s appeal has renewed attention on the investigation into Sarthak’s death, with the family alleging delays in collecting evidence and demanding stricter action against those responsible.Describing the family’s past, Surender said they are Kashmiri Pandits whose home was burned down, adding that his parents died after being unable to bear the trauma they had experienced.What happened?Sarthak Mattoo, an employee of a Gurgaon-based event management company, was riding his motorcycle from Gurgaon to Noida for work at around 6.30am on 25 June when a Mahindra Thar allegedly struck him near the Rajokri flyover in southwest Delhi.According to his family, the SUV fled the scene instead of stopping to help.His father believes the outcome could have been different had the occupants immediately taken him to hospital.“The least the accused could have done was take him to the hospital, but he just ran over him and left him to die,” he said.A passerby who found Sarthak critically injured reportedly unlocked his phone using his fingerprint and contacted one of his colleagues through the recent call list. By the time his family was informed, Sarthak had died.‘The helmet couldn’t save him’For Surender Mattoo, one memory has become especially painful.He says he had bought his son an expensive helmet and made him promise never to ride without it.“I got him a very expensive helmet and made him promise that he would always wear it so he remained safe. He was wearing the helmet, yet it couldn’t save him. Now what do I do?” he said.The tragedy came just two days before Sarthak’s 34th birthday.His father recalls that the family did not even get to see him that morning because he quietly left for work without waking them.“We realised he had already left because his bike wasn’t there.”Family questions delay in blood testThe family’s latest appeal centres on what they describe as a major lapse in the investigation.Surender Mattoo alleges that blood samples from the two men connected to the case were collected around 50 hours after the crash, raising doubts about whether alcohol could still be detected.“My only child was knocked down by two drunkards,” he says in the video.“They were driving after drinking alcohol. For a blood test, their blood sample was taken after 50 hours. Please, someone tell me, how can alcohol content be found in blood after 50 hours?”The family has not presented evidence independently verifying the timing of the blood sample collection, and the allegation has not been publicly confirmed by police.In the video, Surender Mattoo appeals directly to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta.Colleague recalls desperate race to hospitalAkash Deep Choudhary, Sarthak’s colleague and co-founder of the event company where he worked, says he received a call from the passerby at about 6.45am.He immediately headed towards the accident site while speaking to police on the phone.“I told them not to waste time and take him to the nearest private hospital. In such cases, every minute matters,” he said.By the time he reached the hospital, Sarthak had died.One of the hardest moments, he says, was informing Sarthak’s parents.“I couldn’t tell her on the phone. Telling his parents that their only child was no more… that was the hardest thing.”He described Sarthak as one of the company’s brightest employees, who had recently completed probation after returning from the UK and had worked on projects in Thailand and Bengaluru.Police investigationDelhi Police say the Thar involved in the crash was registered in Karnataka and belonged to a Bengaluru-based private company.According to investigators, the vehicle had been leased to Sagar Saha, 29, originally from Bihar.Police say Saha told investigators that his friend, Apurv Singh, 30, from Uttar Pradesh, was driving the SUV while Saha was in the passenger seat.Apurv Singh was arrested on 27 June and later granted bail.Police have registered a case under Section 106(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which relates to causing death by negligence.
