Fauja Singh hit-and-run death: Police arrest NRI from Canada

According to reports, the arrested 30-year-old NRI was identified as Amritpal Singh Dhillon.

Officials told Hindustan Times that Amritpal came from Canada eight days ago and recently purchased a white Toyota Fortuner (PB 20c7100) from a Kapurthala resident.

Officials further told the newspaper that the accused hails from Dasupur village of Kartarpura sub-division in Jalandhar district.

Amritpal Singh Dhillon was arrested Tuesday night.

He is currently being questioned at Bhogpur police station.

He is likely to be presented in court soon.

Police told India Today that  Amritpal Singh Dhillon has three sisters, and his mother resides in Canada.

Police reportedly identified and seized the SUV involved in the accident before arresting Dhillon.

Fauja Singh, the legendary runner who earned the tag of the world's oldest marathoner, died at the age of 114 in a road mishap on Monday.

He was born on April 1, 1911, in Beyas village, Jalandhar.

According to a report in BBC Punjabi, a car hit him on the Jalandhar-Pathankot highway on Monday afternoon.

He suffered a serious head injury and was immediately rushed to a hospital.

However, he succumbed to the injuries at 7:30 pm IST on Monday. 

Indian PM Narendra Modi mourned the death of the athlete and wrote on X: "Fauja Singh Ji was extraordinary because of his unique persona and the manner in which he inspired the youth of India on a very important topic of fitness. He was an exceptional athlete with incredible determination. Pained by his passing away. My thoughts are with his family and countless admirers around the world."

FaujaSingh broke a number of world records in multiple age brackets, but none of his times were ratified as records.

His personal best time for the London Marathon (2003) was 6 hours 2 minutes, and his marathon best, claimed for the 90-plus age bracket, was 5 hours 40 minutes at the alleged age of 92, at the 2003 Toronto Waterfront Marathon.