A 25-year-old delivery executive dies in tragedy amid gig workers risk in the national capital in the early hours of Saturday, February 21, 2026, after an electric scooter was hit dead by a speeding motor vehicle in Tilak Nagar, West Delhi. This is Hem Shakar, a Raghubir Nagar resident, who was on duty for the fast-commerce platform Zepto when the accident happened.
The Accident: Hit with a Heavy Dash near Subhash Nagar
A PCR call had been made at Tilak Nagar police station at around 3:26 AM on Saturday, Delhi Police said. This was a traffic accident in the section near the traffic signal of Subhash Nagar Metro Station, Najafgarh Road, towards Rajouri Garden. Officers responded, found a badly bruised electric scooter and a Hyundai Verna at the scene.
Eyewitnesses, including workers at a nearby petrol pump, estimated that the vehicle had been driving very fast - at approximately 100–150 km/h - before hitting the e-scooter from the rear. The effect was said to be so serious that the victim was dragged on the road before the car finally stopped.
Medical Outcome and Detection
Hem Shakar was taken to Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Hospital instantly. But after arrival, doctors ruled him dead. Shakar, who was also serving as the primary breadwinner for his mother and brother, was staying at night shifts to cover orders for Zepto. Custody Accused: Police have Accused him at the Crime of Drunk Driving.
At the scene of the incident, the driver of the vehicle, Mohit Kumar (27), a resident of Najafgarh, was detained with others' assistance along with some locals. Kumar is also reportedly working for MCD as a contractor. Local residents and partner witnesses of the victim reported that, at the time of the crash, the driver seemed to be under the influence of alcohol; but police still await results of blood sample tests to verify the intoxication level at the time of the crash, local colleagues and the victim’s relatives said.
On the Courts and Outrage
Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Darade Sharad Bhaskar said that the FIR has been registered and the offending vehicle seized. "We are also examining the CCTV footage of Subhash Nagar stretch to establish the precise timeline of what happened." The incident has ignited outrage from the gig worker community in Delhi.
Dozens of delivery partners gathered around the site and the hospital, calling for justice and tougher safety provisions for delivery partners operating on a time crunch with time-sensitive delivery schedules. This tragedy came on the heels of a fatal crash in Dwarka just days earlier, fueling widespread debate about road safety and the safety of app-based transport workers across the city.
