Indian student in Canada jailed for street racing death

A 23-year-old Indian student in Canada has been jailed for 42 months for causing a death in street racing here two years ago.

Ravi Badhwar of Mississauga on the outskirts of Toronto faces deportation to India on completion of his sentence.

The Indian student and two other drivers were Friday found guilty of killing truck driver David Virgoe on Toronto's Highway 400 in street racing in June 2007.

A court here held them guilty of criminal negligence in causing the death. But Badhwar was also found guilty of not remaining at the scene of the accident.

The court sentenced Badhwar and the two others -- Nauman Nusrat, 21, and Prab Multani, 22 -- to 30 months for causing the death. But the Indian student got another 12 months for not remaining at the scene of the death.

Leaving the scene after causing an accident is against the law in Canada.

Since Badhwar has already spent two months in jail, he has been given five months' credit. Thus, he will 37 months more behind bars.

On completion of his jail term, Badhwar faces automatic deportation to India. He will have no right to appeal against his deportation.

The Indian maintained during the trial that he was innocent.

The court was told that the three men were driving their vehicles at speeds of 200 km per hour when the accident happened.

Sentencing them, the court said the three men were playing 'road tag' and "they drove recklessly for 44 kilometres", causing the death.

Badhwar was planning to pursue an accounting course at Toronto's Ryerson University.

In March, another Indian man, Sukhvir Singh Khosa, was deported after his conviction for killing an elderly white woman in street racing in Vancouver in 2000.