Professional racer Ashwin Sundar, who has won several laurels in the domestic car-racing circuit, was charred to death in his BMW along with his wife following an accident in Chennai in the early hours of Saturday. He was 31.
Ashwin and his wife Niveditha were returning from a personal engagement when the BMW Ashwin was driving crashed into a car parked along the road and caught fire, according to some reports. Both Ashwin and Niveditha — who is a doctor — were trapped inside the car because its doors would not open, and were charred to death in the blaze that followed the accident.
The accident took place on Santhome High Road in Chennai in the early hours of Saturday, and passers-by informed the city police on seeing the blaze. The Chennai City police control room then directed personnel from the Adyar traffic investigation wing to go to the spot, and they rushed there to find the car well and truly engulfed in flames.
Soon, fire service personnel from Mylapore arrived at the spot, but the blaze burnt for at least half an hour more before it was put out. Even at that point of time, nobody had any idea of who was trapped inside the car.
Inspector Vanitha and members of her team from the Adyar traffic investigation wing then dismantled parts of the car and recovered the bodies of the two people inside. They then sent the corpses to the Government Royapettah Hospital for postmortem examination.
However, it was the vehicle registration number that gave them the first clue in the pursuit of the identity of the victims. Armed with that information, they managed to find who the owner was, and it turned out to be Ashwin. Further probe revealed that he had been travelling with his wife when the accident happened.
The police have registered a case in this regard and are probing several things, like what the true reason if the fire was, and why Ashwin and Niveditha could not open the doors of the burning car to get out.
