Chandigarh, May 19 -- Noting his utter disregard for traffic rules and safety of others on the road, a local court rejected the bail plea of 24-year-old Ishan Shankar, accused in the fatal BMW hit-and-run case that claimed the life of a young Chandigarh police constable on May 11. In a strongly worded order, chief judicial magistrate Sachin Yadav observed that the act was not mere rash driving but bore prima facie elements of culpable homicide under the new Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). He wilfully flouted the general traffic rules of safe driving, the court said. Shankar, a postgraduate from the University of Lancaster and an aspiring air force officer, was arrested on May 12 in an FIR registered at the Sector 3 police station, Chandigarh. Police informed the court that scrutiny of CCTV footage from various roundabouts in Chandigarh revealed that on May 11 at 6.52 pm, two BMW cars were seen crossing Old Barricade Chowk simultaneously. At 6.54 pm, both the cars crossed Matka Chowk, covering a distance of 1,800 metres in just one minute 2 seconds, indicating that they were driving at approximately 180 km per hour. The court reviewed CCTV footage showing the offending BMW car reaching Matka Chowk from Old Barricade Chowk, with its front number plate and windshield appearing damaged, prima facie showing the video captured the accused fleeing from the accident site. "The footage also shows the car hitting the bicycle, and the deceased being thrown onto the front windshield - something that could not happen if the car were moving slowly," court observed. In another footage of Old Barricade Chowk, both BMWs are seen taking a U-turn, stopping briefly side by side, and then accelerating simultaneously - prima facie suggesting both drivers were racing or performing stunts on a busy road," the court noted. "Stopping two BMW cars in the middle of a busy road, parallel with each other and thereafter starting at the sametime, prima facie shows that both drivers were trying to race or perform a stunt," it remarked. The order further cited a precedent from the Punjab and Haryana high court, stating, "When someone does stunts on a public road, endangering public safety... such acts would not fall only under Section 106 BNS (analogous to Section 304A IPC) but prima facie amount to culpable homicide." The court further remarked that "it is not the case that the accused was not aware about the consequences of his act. After the alleged accident, the accused did not stop and take the victim to hospital. Instead, he fled away from the spot, leaving the deceased at the mercy of passers-by". The deceased constable, Anand Dev, 35, was deployed in UT police's communication wing as a wireless operator. He was reportedly the sole breadwinner of his family, further intensifying the gravity of the offence in the eyes of the court. The medical report revealed 10 injuries on the deceased's body, including multiple fractures, lacerations and abrasions on the left leg, knee, lower back, buttock and forehead. The nature and extent of injuries prima facie indicate that the deceased was hit by a fast-moving car, the court observed. The defence informed the court that Shankar was scheduled to appear for an interview before the Air Force Selection Board in Mysore on June 2, 2025. Dismissing the defence's argument that the accused's academic excellence and upcoming air force interview warranted leniency, the CJM held, "Just because the accused is a meritorious student does not mean he had a right to take law in his hands... He was supposed to be more careful while driving a BMW car, but prima facie, he was not."...