A blue Skoda Octavia rammed into guardrails placed on Red Road to restrict traffic for rehearsals for the Republic Day parade early on Saturday, police said.
The accident was reported at 7.35am, barely half an hour before the rehearsals were to start.
Officers present in the vicinity rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area. The vehicle was seized and brought to Maidan police station. A college student who was at the wheel has been detained.
A man who claimed to be the driver’s relative and refused to share his identity told the police that the college student had gone out for a cup of tea in the morning.
The police said no one was injured, but the incident triggered security concerns in a high-alert zone, reviving memories of a crash in 2016 when a speeding Audi Q7 crashed through several layers of police barricades and killed young Air Force corporal Abhimanyu Gaud, who was part of a parade contingent.
“We have collected CCTV footage of the car’s journey from Kidderpore Road and what happened at the time of the accident. Some eyewitness accounts have been recorded,” a senior police officer said.
“The incident is being probed to find out whether there were any security lapses,” he said.
Eyewitnesses, including some police personnel, told investigating officers that the Skoda sped down Kidderpore Road, reached the south gate of Fort William — now renamed Vijay Durg — before heading straight towards J&N Island.
Cars headed for Dalhousie move straight from the island to Red Road, while those moving towards Park Street take a right turn onto Outram Road. Vehicles headed to Esplanade take a right turn at the island and move down Dufferin Road.
As Red Road has vehicles moving in opposite flanks — towards Dalhousie in the north and Victoria Memorial in the south — they were being drained out from the stretch before closing the thoroughfare.
“Around 7.30, guardrails were placed across the Dalhousie-bound flank to prevent vehicles from moving straight towards Red Road. It was decided that these vehicles would be diverted from the J&N Island towards Park Street or Esplanade along Outram Road and Dufferin Road, respectively,” an officer said.
Bystanders said that on arriving at the island, the Skoda’s driver possibly realised he couldn’t head straight towards Red Road since it was barricaded and would have to take a right turn.
“The turning radius of the car to the right was very high, and it ended up crashing into two guardrails. This possibly explains why the car’s left corner in the front has been heavily damaged,” the officer said