Head constable shot dead outside his home

NEW DELHI: A head constable posted at Ambedkar Nagar police station was shot dead outside his home in Jaitpur in South East Delhi on Tuesday night. He was immediately rushed to the hospital but was declared brought dead.

Delhi police received a PCR call at around 11:30 pm on Tuesday night. The caller told the cops that a policeman is lying in an unconscious state on the road and is being taken to the hospital. The second call confirmed that the policeman had suffered a bullet injury. He was identified as Ram Avtar Meena. The police soon reached the spot and the head constable Ram Avtar was rushed to Apollo hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead. He joined the police force in 2003 and was from Rajasthan.

"He was declared brought dead by the doctors. He received a bullet injury below his ribs on the right side, a case of murder has been registered at Jaitpur and our team is investigating the murder. Local input is being gathered to identify the assailants," said DCP, South East, Chinmoy Biswal.

The initial investigation revealed that he was shot when he was going to the flour mill. "He returned from his duty at around 9:30 pm and after changing his clothes he went to get some wheat flour from the mill. Later, the locals spotted him lying on the road," said a senior Police officer.

"He was on duty at Hotel Leela Palace from morning till evening where a foreign delegation has come. He went home after completing his duty straightaway, he was from Karauli in Rajasthan and is survived by his wife and two children. His parents also stayed with him," said the police officer.

After the post-mortem in AIIMS, his body was taken to his hometown Karauli in Rajasthan for the last rites.

His colleagues remember Ram Avtar as a humble natured soul who was always ready for help.

"We met almost daily. He was a gem as a person, good nature and a person we always loved to talk to, his cremation saw more than one thousand men from the village and Delhi, we are all shocked by this incident," said one of his colleagues Jagdish.

Police were swift enough to form teams to gather information but have not ruled out the possibility of some enmity. Cops have also rounded up budding criminals and ruffians of the area to get some clue of the murder.