Kanpur Lamborghini Crash: When Wealth Meets Impunity on Indian Roads
TL;DR: On February 9, 2026, a Lamborghini Revuelto worth over Rs 10 crore crashed into pedestrians, an autorickshaw, and parked vehicles on Kanpur's VIP Road, injuring at least six people. Police say CCTV and eyewitnesses point to Shivam Mishra — son of tobacco tycoon KK Mishra — as the driver. His family claims a hired chauffeur was behind the wheel. The incident is the latest in a disturbing pattern of luxury car crashes in India where wealth, influence, and legal maneuvering appear to shield the privileged from accountability.
What Happened in Kanpur
At approximately 3:15 PM on Sunday, February 9, 2026, a Lamborghini Revuelto — a Delhi-registered Italian supercar costing upwards of Rs 10 crore — lost control near Rev-3 Mall in Kanpur's upscale Gwaltoli area. (Times of India)
The car first rammed into an autorickshaw, then struck a parked Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle, flinging its rider several feet into the air. Pedestrian Taufiq, a resident of Chaman Ganj, sustained serious injuries while trying to escape. At least six people were injured in total. (Hindustan Times)
What happened next has become grimly familiar in India. According to eyewitness Satyendra Singh Chandel: "Bouncers accompanying the car broke the window and pulled out the driver. They took him away in another vehicle." (Economic Times)
The Lamborghini was seized. An FIR was registered — initially against an unidentified driver.
The Identity Question: A Familiar Script
Kanpur Police Commissioner Raghubir Lal has stated that CCTV footage, eyewitness accounts, and investigation evidence point to Shivam Mishra, 35, son of KK Mishra, owner of Banshidhar Exports Pvt Ltd, as the driver. (India Today)
But the Mishra family has offered a different version.
The family's claim: Shivam was in the passenger seat. He suffered a "seizure" moments before the crash. A designated driver named Mohan was behind the wheel. (Sunday Guardian) The police's position: CCTV footage and multiple eyewitness accounts place Shivam at the wheel. The FIR has been updated to name him as the accused under BNS Sections 281, 125, and 324(4) — covering reckless driving, negligence, and endangering life. (Rediff) The father's shifting story: KK Mishra initially told police that driver Mohan was at the wheel. He later revised his statement, saying he "did not know who was driving" and that the matter should be investigated. (New Indian Express)As of the latest reports, Shivam Mishra has not been arrested. His father claims he is "undergoing treatment in Delhi" and is not in a condition to return to Kanpur. The SHO of Gwaltoli police station was removed from his post following the incident. (News18)
A Pattern India Cannot Ignore
The Kanpur crash did not happen in isolation. It is the latest entry in a growing list of luxury car accidents where wealth and influence appear to distort the course of justice.
Pune Porsche Crash (May 2024)
A 17-year-old, allegedly drunk, drove a Porsche Taycan into two IT professionals — Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta — killing both on the spot. The family's initial response: pressure the hired driver to claim he was behind the wheel. The father, grandfather, and even hospital doctors were later arrested for evidence tampering and blood sample swapping. The minor was granted bail within 15 hours and asked to write an essay on road safety. (Wikipedia, NDTV)
Mumbai BMW Hit-and-Run (2024)
Mihir Shah, son of a Shiv Sena politician, crashed his BMW into a fisherfolk couple on a scooter, killing Kaveri Nakhwa. The woman was reportedly dragged for over 1.5 km under the car. Shah fled the scene and was arrested two days later. His father was suspended from his political position. (The Hindu, India Today)
Delhi Audi Crash (2025)
A drunk Audi driver ran over five people — including two couples and an eight-year-old girl — sleeping on a footpath in Vasant Vihar, New Delhi. The driver, Utsav Shekhar, was arrested at the scene. (The Hindu, India Today)
Noida Lamborghini Crash (2025)
A Lamborghini struck two labourers working on a footpath near Sector 94. The driver, a luxury car dealer, was released on bail of Rs 25,000 (roughly $300). A widely circulated video showed him stepping out and asking bystanders: "Koi mar gaya kya?" ("Has anyone died?"). (Indian Express, SCMP)
Delhi Mercedes Crash (2016)
A Mercedes allegedly driven by a minor killed a 32-year-old IT professional, Sidharth Sharma, in Civil Lines. The family's chauffeur initially claimed he was driving — later admitting he had been pressured to take the blame. (Indian Express, New Indian Express)
Delhi BMW Case (1999)
A BMW mowed down six people, including three policemen, at Lodhi Road. The case dragged through courts for nearly a decade before the accused, businessman Sanjeev Nanda, was finally convicted in 2008. His sentence was eventually reduced to two years (time already served) by the Supreme Court in 2012. (Wikipedia, The Guardian, BBC)
How Media Frames Wealth vs. Poverty on the Road
The coverage pattern is revealing. When a luxury car is involved in a crash, media coverage explodes — but the framing is instructive.
When the driver is wealthy:- Headlines focus on the car's price tag ("Rs 10 crore Lamborghini")
- Coverage emphasizes the driver's lifestyle, social media posts, lavish parties
- The "who was driving" question dominates for days
- Legal proceedings are tracked in detail
- Public outrage is amplified
- Victims are often unnamed or described generically ("pedestrian," "laborer")
- Their stories receive a fraction of the coverage
- Compensation and recovery are rarely followed up
- Systemic failures that put them at risk are barely examined
The 2021 World Bank report "Traffic Crash Injuries and Disabilities: The Burden on Indian Society" quantified this disparity: the financial loss from road crashes for poor households amounted to more than seven months' household income, while for rich households, it was less than one month's household income. (World Bank)
The Numbers Behind the Outrage
India's road safety crisis is staggering, according to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways' Road Accidents in India 2023 report (MoRTH):
- 172,000+ people died on Indian roads in 2023 — nearly one every three minutes (BBC)
- 10,000 children were among the dead (BBC)
- 35,000 pedestrians lost their lives (OpenCity)
- 54,000 deaths were due to not wearing helmets (BBC)
- Overspeeding was the single largest cause, responsible for over 68% of all fatalities (PSU Watch)
- Road crashes cost India an estimated 3% of its annual GDP (The Hindu)
India has the world's second-largest road network (6.6 million km) and an estimated 350 million registered vehicles. (BBC)
But within these grim numbers lies a class dimension that rarely makes headlines. The victims are overwhelmingly two-wheeler riders (44.8% of all road deaths) and pedestrians — India's most economically vulnerable road users. (MoRTH via LinkedIn)
The Accountability Gap
Why does this pattern repeat?
1. The "driver swap" playbook: In case after case — Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, now Kanpur — the first instinct of wealthy families is to claim someone else was driving. It has become a legal playbook, and it works often enough to keep being attempted. (Hindustan Times) 2. Delayed FIRs and lenient charges: In Kanpur, the FIR initially named an "unidentified driver" despite witnesses and CCTV. Charges filed are often for reckless driving rather than culpable homicide. Bail amounts are trivially low relative to the accused's wealth. 3. Institutional response: The removal of the Gwaltoli SHO suggests systemic questions about initial police handling. Why was the driver allowed to be whisked away by bodyguards? Why wasn't the identity established immediately? (News18) 4. Wealth as insulation: Private lawyers, shifting narratives, medical excuses for avoiding police summons — the pattern is consistent. The accused in the Noida Lamborghini crash got bail for Rs 25,000. A month's rent for many of the victims' families. (Indian Express)What Needs to Change
- Stricter penalties for reckless driving causing injury — current laws treat these as relatively minor offenses
- Mandatory immediate identification of drivers in accidents involving injury, regardless of social status
- Higher bail amounts proportional to the accused's financial capacity
- Prosecution for obstruction when families or associates attempt driver swaps or evidence tampering
- Follow-up reporting on victims' recovery and compensation — not just the dramatic crash footage
The Broader Question
As UP Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya said after the Kanpur crash: "If someone has committed this accident intentionally, action will be taken." (ANI)
But the question India keeps failing to answer isn't whether action will be taken. It's whether the action will be the same for a tobacco tycoon's son in a Lamborghini and a daily-wage worker on a bicycle.
Kanpur Police Commissioner Raghubir Lal put it simply: "Whether it is a Lamborghini or an ordinary vehicle, the law is the same for all." (ANI)
The evidence from case after case suggests otherwise. Until that changes, the script will keep repeating: crash, outrage, driver swap, delayed justice, forgotten victims.
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