Hit-and-run case: Professor held, says he was rushing to college

BENGALURU: 57-year-old physics professor has been arrested for allegedly mowing down a 74-year-old homemaker in Mathikere before speeding away on Friday.
Prof K S Nagaraj, who works with a private college on Dr Rajkumar Road and is a resident of MSR Nagar, confessed to have been at the wheel when his car knocked down the senior citizen. He said he was in a hurry as he was getting late for college. Police have seized his red Maruti Alto (KA 04-MB 8319).On September 1, homemaker Yaliyamma Jacob sustained serious injuries when the car hit her on HMT Main Road around 7.30am.
The woman had just left church and was walking towards the bus stop. Yaliyamma succumbed to injuries at a private hospital in the evening.
“I was supposed to reach college by 7.45am; even a oneminute delay would have led to adverse consequences,” the professor said. The accident occurred one and a half kilometres away from his house. Nagaraj said the accident left him shocked. “I was worried about the legal and social ramifications. After knocking down the pedestrian, I headed to a friend’s place, parked the car and returned home by bus,” he said. College sources said Nagaraj did not show up for work Friday onwards. They said a total delay of more than 60 minutes in registering biometric attendance during any month results in the employee losing a day’s salary or forfeiting a day’s leave.
Number 19 a vital clue
The hit-and-run accident was recorded on CCTV camears installed in private buildings in the area. But the footage was not of much help as it didn’t show the licence plate of the vehicle. All police knew was that it was a red Alto.
“When we visited the spot, an autorickshaw driver told us he remembered the last two digits of the number — 19. We visited the local RTO and searched for a red Alto with a registration number ending with 19. After shortlisting many numbers, we filtered them by focusing on car owners who reside in and around Yeshwantpur, police said.
By then, based on the address provided at the RTO, a team had reached the professor’s house in Geddalahalli. But we got to know it was his old address. We visited different service centres and finally traced his present address. We landed at his doorstep and picked him up on Tuesday,” police said. The car was later seized from his friend’s house.