Woman's death in accident leads to riot, 6 cops thrashed

Tension prevailed at south Delhi’s Fatehpur Beri on Saturday when a mob went on a rampage over the death of a 28-year-old woman in a road accident.

They set a Delhi Transport Corporation bus on fire, thrashed policemen, besides blocking traffic and shouting slogans against Delhi Police and the Delhi Transport Department.

An assistant sub-inspector of Delhi Police, two head constables and three constables were thrashed and their uniforms were torn, police said on Sunday.

Locals turned violent after the woman, identified as Sunita, was crushed to death by a DTC bus – DL 1 PC 8599. She was traveling on a motorcycle with her five-year-old daughter Kiran and brother-in-law Kishan.

According to police, a call was made to the police control room at 6 pm. “It was reported that three persons on a motorcycle had met with a head-on collision with a DTC bus at Bhati Mines village,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Prem Nath.

Sunita, Kiran and Kishan were rushed to AIIMS Trauma Centre, where Sunita was declared brought dead. Eyewitness told police that Sunita’s head was crushed under the bus.

After initial probe, police said Kishan was driving the motorcycle and was taking Sunita and Kiran from Sanjay Colony in Bhati Mines village to Haryana’s Faridabad district.

They were hit while crossing the traffic signal near a Hanuman Temple at Bhati Mines village. The driver of the low-floor bus had tried to flee from the spot, but was overpowered and thrashed by locals before being handed over to police.

Angered over Sunita’s death, locals gathered at the spot and pelted stones on bus. They also pelted stones on the police teams which went to attend the PCR call.
“During the demonstration, an unidentified man from the crowd took petrol from a motorcycle’s petrol tank and set the bus on fire,” another police officer added.

The incident led to traffic snarls in the area and traffic was hit on roads leading to Chattarpur, Vasant Kunj, Saket, Mehrauli and Gurgaon for over two hours. Additional police teams were also required to control the situation and disperse the mob.

The injured policemen have been identified as ASI Nepal Singh, head constables Krishan and Rajender, and constables Dayaram, Ravinder and Sanjay. They were taken to AIIMS Trauma Center for preliminary medical aid.

The situation was controlled after senior police officers reached the spot and mild force was used to disperse the crowd from the spot.

The driver of the bus has been identified as 34-year-old Vikram. On being questioned, he told police the he failed to see the motorcycle while taking a turn from the traffic signal. A case of rash driving and causing death by negligence has been filed with Fatehpur Beri police station.

Sunita’s body was handed over to family on Sunday. She hailed from Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district.

Another case of rioting has been registered against unknown persons for creating ruckus and damaging public property. Some of the accused in the second case have been identified as Dhannu, Mahesh, Ravi, Amit, Sunil, Kalu and Vijay.