The Hindu : New Delhi News : Air Force employee fatally hit by police van

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 07, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Air Force employee fatally hit by police van

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JAN. 6. A 48-year-old Air Force employee was killed when a Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) van of the New Delhi police hit his scooter at R.K. Puram in South-West Delhi today. Angered over his death, area residents and passers by damaged the windows and the windscreen of the police van and deflated its tyres.

Around 5-30 p.m., the BDS van was returning to its New Delhi office after carrying out a combing exercise on a VIP route when a Air Force bus moving ahead of it applied brakes suddenly, the police said. To avoid collision with the bus, the van driver constable Bharat Singh turned towards the left and ended up hitting a scooter on which the Air Force civilian staff, Jai Narain Awasthi, was heading towards his home in Nauroji Nagar. The accident occurred on Somnath Marg near R.K. Puram Section7-8 crossing.

According to the police, Jai Narain succumbed to his injuries on the spot. Meanwhile, area residents and passers by assembled there and began pelting stones on the van damaging its windows and windscreen and then they deflated its tyres. All this while, Bharat remained locked inside the vehicle fearing that he would be beaten up by the mob.

Alleging that Bharat was driving in an inebriated state, the angry crowd blocked the road for about half-an-hour. They also alleged that the accident occurred because the police van and the Air Force bus were vying to overtake each other.

After the incident was reported to the Police Control Room, the area Station House Officer rushed to the spot and called in more force to contain the situation. On being persuaded that necessary action would be taken against Bharat, the residents dispersed from there. Subsequently, the police registered a case of causing death due to rash and negligent driving and arrested Bharat Singh. While the family of the deceased has been informed, further investigations into the incident are on.

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