Former cricketer Suresh Raina’s cousin was killed in a hit-and-run incident, which also claimed the life of another man riding the same scooter, police said on Thursday. Saurabh Kumar, Raina’s maternal cousin, and his friend Shubham from Kuthman died in a collision with a car near Gaggal airport on Wednesday, they said. Superintendent of Police (SP) Kangra, Shalini Agnihotri, said the incident took place around 11:30 pm on Wednesday near Himachal Timber in Gaggal.

According to the police, the driver of the car, Sher Singh, was responsible for the collision.

He had fled the scene but with the help of the CCTV footage, which captured the incident, Singh was later arrested in Mandi, they added.

A case has been registered against the accused under sections 279 (rash driving) and 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code, along with section 187 of the Motor Vehicles Act, the police said.

Recently, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) legend Suresh Rainaopened up on the much-talked-about controversy surrounding his withdrawal from the IPL 2020 season in the UAE. Amid the Coronavirus pandemic, Raina had travelled to the country with the rest of the players but pulled out before the start of the season, citing personal reasons and COVID-19 bio-bubble arrangements. There were different theories regarding Raina’s decision to pull out. One such rumour claimed that Raina left the bio-bubble after he was denied a hotel room with a balcony.

Addressing the rumours, Raina revealed that he pulled out of the tournament to spent time with his father and close ones after his relatives were killed in Punjab.

“There was bereavement in the family, I went to Punjab. In my uncle’s family, there were deaths. The kaccha gang..who come with oil on their body. A group of gangsters killed the entire family, my grandmother was also there. It happened in Pathankot. So I went there. But there was a bio-bubble in the IPL, where you couldn’t return. My father was very upset. When the Kachche gang did what they did, my entire family was in stress. I thought cricket came next, I could play anytime, first, my family was important,” Raina said during an interaction on Lallantop.