The police said that the accident was the result of a 'race' between two cars - a Maruti Swift driven by some people and a Honda Accord driven by a group of girls.
In yet another case of reckless driving, a youth and his five-year-old cousin were killed when a group of girls in a car, allegedly racing with another vehicle, hit their two-wheeler in a high-security area of the city.
The incident took place at Sector-3, at a spot close to the residences of chief ministers of both Punjab and Haryana here late last night.
The police said the accident was the result of a "race" between two cars -- a Maruti Swift driven by some people and a Honda Accord driven by the group of girls.
The girls, who were suspected to be in an inebriated condition, lost control over the vehicle while driving at high speed from Sukhna Lake towards Sector-3, the police said.
They hit a motorbike which was passing by, killing 21-year-old Sukhwinder, an engineering student, and his five-year-old cousin Harpreet, police said. The impact of the collision was so big that the child was thrown several metres up into the air, they said citing eyewitnesses.
While the child died on the spot, the youth succumbed to injuries at a hospital. The victims belonged to Kansal village near Chandigarh.
The girls fled the spot in the Swift car after the incident leaving their vehicle behind, they said, adding the car, which has been badly damaged, was bearing a VIP registration number belonging to a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the Army.
A case has been registered and police are questioning the Lt. Colonel at his residence. No arrests have been made so far.
The Chandigarh police said a case has been registered under sections 279 (rash and negligent act) and 304-A (causing death due to neglicence) of the IPC.
"The real culprits will be arrested soon," deputy superintendent of police, central, Jagbir Singh told reporters in Chandigarh.
Asked if the girl driving the car has been identified, he said, "The investigations are going and at this stage to say anything more before the media would hamper investigations".
"No matter how high and powerful the culprits may be, police is not going to come under any influence. Law will take its own course," he said.
Singh said he could not say whether the girls in the car were in an inebriated state.
The girls fled the spot in the Swift car after the incident leaving their vehicle behind, police said, adding the badly damaged car was bearing a double digit Chandigarh registration number belonging to a retired Lt. Colonel.
BS Brar, the retired army officer's son, who is also in the Army, claimed that his driver had taken the Honda Accord car to drop someone at the airport.
Asked about the girls in the car, he told reporters that he had no idea about them. "I am still looking for my driver," he said.
The girl was believed to be driving the car at a speed of over 120 kmph.
Singh said the postmortem of the victims has been completed and the bodies handed over to the relatives for cremation.
Asked if the Honda car owner could be related to the girls, Singh said, "This cannot be said at this stage".
The two victims were going home after purchasing medicines for Sukhwinder's mother.
Sarabjit, a passerby, was a witness to the accident and told police that the Honda car was racing with a Swift car and collided with the motorbike.
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