Footage from a surveillance camera installed near the site of the accident showed Fauja Singh walking towards the highway, minutes before Amritpal Singh Dhillon rammed into the marathon Maverick in a speeding SUV. The accused has been granted judicial custody, and the Punjab Police have seized the Toyota Fortuner involved.

The footage shows 114-year-old Fauja Singh slowly walking on a slip lane along the Jalandhar-Pathankot highway in Beas. He stops for a couple of seconds and then resumes walking instead. As per agency reports, Fauja Singh was tossed five to seven feet in air after being hit by Dhillon’s car, citing eye-witness records.

While the CCTV footage does not show the vividly described accident, the hit proved to be fatal for the ‘Turbaned Tornado’.

After the incident, an FIR was registered against the driver under sections 281 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, police said. As per additional reports, Amritpal Singh Dhillon had arrived from Canada just eight days before the accident. Reportedly, he was on his way to sell his mobile phone when he hit Fauja, after he had purchased the SUV involved from a friend on arrival.

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Punjab’s SSP Rural Harvindar Singh Virk revealed the details of the accident. He said that around 3 PM, “Sardar Fauja Singh went out for a walk on the road…There, on the main road between Jalandhar and Pathankot, an unknown vehicle hit him. He was admitted to Shrimant Hospital, Jalandhar. He died there due to injuries at around 7 in the evening…”

The legend of Fauja

Personalities like PM Modi and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann mourned the loss of Fauja Singh. Fondly called as the ‘Turbaned Tornado’ or the ‘Sikh Superman’, became the first centenarian to complete a marathon, earning multiple records while participating in international events. He went on to run marathons, including the famed ones in London, New York and Hong Kong, and inspire awe for clocking some brilliant timings for a 90-plus man born with weak legs. He ran his most memorable marathon at 100 in Toronto, convened to honour his name.