Ghaziabad: Two men, including the driver, were arrested for allegedly ramming their Ertiga car into a 32-year-old traffic police constable on duty on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway on Friday evening, police said on Sunday, adding that the constable died during treatment on the intervening night of Saturday/Sunday.
Police identified the deceased as Vipin Kumar Singh, originally from Khurjah, Bulandshahar district, and residing in Ghaziabad, and, the suspect car driver as Vinit Kumar, 30, having a criminal record at Madhuban Bapudham police station, Ghaziabad, who was with his cousin Nitin Kumar, 27 – both residents of Sadarpur village. The incident took place around 6.15pm.
Officers said the accident’s footage recorded on expressway cameras, shows a speeding car hitting the constable directly near the exit point on the expressway near Vijay Nagar. The hit flung the cop into the air, and dragged him for about 40 metres, they added.
HT, however, could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
“The erring driver fled with the car. Our other personnel rushed the injured constable to a hospital, from where he was referred to a higher centre. However, he succumbed during the treatment. The initial FIR was lodged against the erring driver under BNS section 109 (1) (attempt to murder) upon a complaint given by the constable’s brother,” said additional DCP (traffic) Sachhidanand.
“The car driver and the co-driver fled with their Ertiga car soon after the incident,” the officer added.
An FIR was registered at Vijay Nagar police station on August 23, and its video surfaced online later that night.
“The Ertiga car driver hit my brother on duty at high speed to kill him and fled,” the constable’s brother Akshay Kumar Singh stated in the FIR on Saturday.
Officers from the Vijay Nagar police station said that they initially levied a BNS section for attempted murder, as the car hit was deliberate, and it was estimated to be allegedly driven at high speed of about 100-120kmph.
“During the incident, the Ertiga car changed lanes suddenly at a little distance before the point where the constable was standing. It seemed to be a direct and deliberate hit. This is why we levied a section for attempted murder and also based on family’s complaint. The accused were traced based on their car’s registration number, which was in the name of Nitin Kumar. The car has been seized, and a probe is underway,” said SHO (Vijay Nagar police station) Shashi Chaudhary.
The two suspects were produced before a court on Sunday evening.
Additional police commissioner Alok Priyadarshi said, “The two suspects were remanded under BNS section for murder after the death of the constable.”
According to police records, Kumar (Vinit) already has three cases against his name under various sections for rioting, causing grievous hurt, voluntarily causing hurt, and criminal trespass, among others.
On Sunday night, a police statement said during interrogation the two have revealed that on their way to Ghaziabad from Haryana, they had an argument with policemen in Delhi and were miffed over it. Fearing the cops on the DME may also bother them, they just ran over the constable.