Cops leave accident victim to die on road

Indian police can do anything for money. In this case they took the driver into custody immediately, who killed an elderly person in an accident. But they left the victim to die on road. They could have taken him to the hospital immediately so that he could have been saved. But they didnt do this since they dont have anything to gain from this. Instead they catch hold of the driver and his boss so that they can fetch money from them. This is the reality and Reality Bites.

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Police apathy touched a new low in the capital on Thursday, when cops allegedly left a senior citizen to die on the road while rushing the occupants of a BMW car, which had knocked down the victim on NH-24, away from the accident site.

Om Dutt Chauhan, 65, a retired DTC employee who was out on his morning walk with his son and neighbours, died after lying for half-an-hour on the road between Nizamuddin and Ghazipur, close to the Akshardham temple.

Eyewitnesses said the speeding BMW, driven by the son of a prominent east Delhi businessman, spun out of control and hit the divider before ramming Chauhan, who fell on stones kept on the pavement for relaying.

According to Chauhan's son Mahesh, a PCR van arrived at the spot within seven minutes of the accident. "They first reached out to the driver — Raman Singla, whose family owns a confectionery chain in east Delhi — his father Baburam Singla and brother Deepak Singla. The cops told us they were to be taken in the PCR van so that they don't escape," Mahesh said.

Minutes after retired DTC employee Om Dutt Chauhan was hit by a BMW car near Akshardham temple, S P Shukla, an eyewitness to the accident, said both he and victim's son Mahesh Chauhan pleaded that Om be shifted to a hospital. "Instead, the cops just drove away in the wrong lane (connecting Mayur Vihar Phase-II with Nizamuddin) and then turned right towards Noida. We kept requesting other policemen and traffic police gathered at the spot to arrange for another vehicle, but they kept saying another PCR would arrive soon and added that the delay was due to the traffic jam caused by the accident," said Shukla.

"We heard a huge noise and tyres screeching. We turned around and saw this out of control blue BMW spinning wildly on the road. It hit the divider, then knocked a man down and twirled a few times in the air before hitting the pavement," said eyewitness Rajesh, a class X student.

The police have ordered a high level inquiry into the incident. "The DCP (PCR) P S Bhusan will investigate the role of the two policemen posted in the PCR," said Dharmendra Kumar, joint commissioner (New Delhi Range).

The incident was reported around 6.05am though the first PCR call in this regard was received at 6.29am.

The police, though, had a different version of the incident. "The PCR cops have told us that they found Om dead when they reached the spot. They decided to remove the driver Raman Singla to the hospital as he too was injured in the accident and was bleeding from his forehead. It was also our duty to protect him from the mob who had already began pelting stones at the car. However, everyone's role in this case will be investigated," said joint CP Kumar.

Added the SHO of the Mandawali police station: "After the first PCR left, we tried to remove the body but were physically stopped from doing so by the kin of the deceased who said that we need to hand over the accused to them." Chauhan's body was finally shifted for postmortem at the LBS Hospital around 9.15 am.

Kumar added that Raman had been arrested for causing death due to rash and negligent driving. He said Raman was driving under the influence of alcohol. "We have so far not been able to establish whether Baburam Singla and Deepak Singla too were in the car as the PCR only found Raman at the accident spot. The accused's family tried to produce one Javed as the driver of the BMW but the claim seems to be untrue," said the JCP. A local court granted Raman interim bail for a single day on a personal bond of Rs 24,000.

Talking to mediapersons, Deepak Singla, brother of the accused, claimed that Raman was innocent. "Javed was driving the car. My brother was in the backseat and he was headed for the New Delhi railway station to pick up a relative. However, news reached us that the relative had got off at the Ghaziabad station and we were asked to go back to our residence at Dayanand Vihar near Anand Vihar. The driver, thus took a U-turn from Nizamuddin and met with an accident near Akshardham," he said.

Two months ago, another morning walker, a 44-year-old gallantry award awardee, had died after he was hit by an unidentified vehicle on Africa Avenue Marg. The family of the deceased, Major Alok Singh, had alleged that there was a delay of three hours in taking him to the hospital.

Source: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, 8th April 2010