Mother turns investigator, gathers clues to find truck that killed son in 2024

A grieving mother took it upon herself to probe the hit-and-run case that claimed her son's life, after alleged police apathy stalled the formal investigation. She didn't leave any stones unturned to gather evidence and piece them together to finally zero in on a suspect. However, she was once again let down by the same system that was originally supposed to deliver her justice.

Lalita Chowdhury lost her 18-year-old son, Kshitij, in a horrific road accident in Dehradun on February 16, 2024. The teenager was crossing a road when he was run over by a dumper truck. A promising student, Kshitij was pursuing his graduation.

In fact, the fatal incident took place just hours before he was supposed to appear for a recruitment examination to join Uttar Pradesh Police. As though the tragedy itself was not cruel enough for Kshitij's family, the police response, marked by indifference, only deepened their anguish.

The young man was survived by his mother and sister. While a case was filed on February 19, 2024, Lalita alleges that there was no prompt action by the police. She claims that on February 21, the investigating officer of the case responded rudely to her after she raised questions about the police dragging their feet.

That was the point where Lalita realised that she had to take it upon herself to bring her son's culprit to justice. Days later, she set out on a journey that was not going to be easy by any measure.

For nearly two months, she stayed awake at night, collecting CCTV footage from the accident site and surrounding areas. She painstakingly gathered enough clues to get a bigger picture of what happened on the fateful night.

By coalescing various clues, she identified about 10 vehicles that could be the subjects of interest in the probe. After much effort, she succeeded in zeroing in on one of the vehicles and shared its details with the police.

Despite the professional-level efforts by Lalita, no concrete action was taken by the police. In fact, Kshitij's family wasn't aware that the next step by the police would only add salt to their wounds.

In a shocking development, the police filed a closure report in the case in September 2025, allegedly without even informing the family. Interestingly enough, a lack of leads was cited as the reason behind closing the case in the report.

Lalita claims that the accused would have been caught if the police had seriously pursued the evidence she provided. For the past two years, Lalita has relentlessly sought justice for her son.

Her pleas, however, seem to have fallen only on deaf ears. She has appealed to police stations and senior officers, albeit to no avail.

Recently, Lalita attended a meeting in Dehradun led by farmer leader Rakesh Tikait. There, she received assurance from Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Pramendra Dobhal that the investigation into Kshitij's death will be reopened.

It remains to be seen if the words of assurance translate into any meaningful action or the system disappoints the grief-stricken family once again.

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(Based on inputs from Ankit Sharma)