25-yr-old Delhi traffic cop run over trying to stop errant driver

In a case of road rage, a 25-year-old Delhi traffic police constable was mowed down by the driver of a Maruti Suzuki Ritz car for performing his duty. The accused ran the vehicle over the policeman, who had stopped the car as it was violating the traffic diversions on Saturday evening. The constable was dragged for around 150 metres and died on the spot.

The incident took place on Saturday at around 7.30 pm near Zakhira flyover in West Delhi, where Mana Ram was on picket duty with another colleague. Ram noticed a car coming from the wrong side and he tried to stop it. A 28-year-old person, identified as Raman Kant, was at the wheels with two minor persons at the rear seat.

‘The traffic policeman asked him not to drive on that route as traffic diversions had been imposed from 5 pm to 9 pm. An argument ensued between the occupants of the car and the constable. Suddenly, Raman Kant reversed his car and ran over Mana Ram dragging him for about 150 metres,’ Ranvir Singh, DCP (west) said.

‘Instead of following the lawful directions of the traffic staff on duty, the driver rammed his car into constable Mana Ram and drove away. The impact threw the constable on to the bonnet of the car and he hung on to the edge till he was thrown off a good 150 metres down the road,’ Muktesh Chander, special police commissioner (traffic) said.

Mana Ram sustained severe injuries and was immediately rushed to MSG hospital in Punjabi Bagh where doctors pronounced him brought dead, a senior police official said.

In the meantime, the errant driver was chased by a PCR van and the registration number was flashed in all the pickets across the national capital and along the borders. At around 9 pm, Raman Kant was nabbed from his residence in Shastri Nagar. He identified the other two occupants as his neighbours who have also been apprehended.

‘Raman Kant confessed his crime and has been booked under the relevant sections of murder and other sections of Motor Vehicle Act. The two minors were produced before the juvenile justice board and have been sent to juvenile home,’ Singh said. The car is owned by one Devender Shail, 

who had given it to a travel company where Raman Kant works as a driver,’ Singh added.