“The couple were returning home from a function and were in a cab. They stopped the vehicle on the road outside the enclave and were crossing it when the car hit them,” said police.

A 69-year-old retired group captain of the Indian Air Force and his 47-year-old wife died after a Volkswagen Polo allegedly rammed into them late Wednesday night in Dwarka. The couple, identified as Amardeep Singh Gill and Rajani Gill, were returning home to Air Force and Naval Officers Enclave in Dwarka Sector 7 and were just across the road when the car, which was allegedly speeding, hit them a little before midnight.

Police said the driver of the red Polo, allegedly a 20-year-old BBA student, fled after hitting the couple. “Yatin, a resident of Vikaspuri, was arrested Thursday, and the car too has been recovered. He has been booked under IPC sections 279 (rash driving) and 304A (causing death by negligence) at the Dwarka South police station,” said DCP (Dwarka) Anto Alphonse.

A police officer said, “Amardeep was declared dead on arrival at the hospital while Rajani succumbed during treatment on Friday morning.”

Amardeep has two sons settled in Canada and they have been informed about the deaths.

“The couple were returning home from a function and were in a cab. They stopped the vehicle on the road outside the enclave and were crossing it when the car hit them,” said police.

It was a passerby’s presence of mind to note down the number of the red Polo that helped police identify the driver. A police officer said, “When the registration number was checked, it was traced to an address in Netaji Subhash Place. When the police reached there, they found out that the owner had moved to Pitampura. At the next location, they were told that the car had been sold to a broker in 2014.”

Police then tracked down the broker, who informed police that he had sold the car to another person in Vikaspuri. Police arrested Yatin at this address and recovered the car.

“During questioning, he told police that he was dropping off a friend to Dwarka Sector 4, and that there were three people in the car. As they were busy talking, Yatin allegedly didn’t notice the couple crossing the road and hit them. He then panicked and sped away,” said a police officer.