A 55-year-old physically challenged tea seller was killed after a police patrolling van rammed into his roadside stall in central Delhi’s Mandir Marg area on Thursday morning, police said.
Locals claimed that the police personnel appeared to be intoxicated and there were alcohol bottles in their car.
However, police said the medical reports confirmed no traces of alcohol.
The victim, identified as Gangaram Tiwari, was sleeping at his tea shop when the incident took place around 5 AM, a senior police officer said.
While the driver of the Police Control Room (PCR) van, identified as Constable Khimlesh, has been arrested, the Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police has been suspended.
The driver of the PCR van told police that he accidentally pressed the accelerator instead of the brake leading to the incident.
Giving details of the incident, Vinod Yadav, a local said, “We have been living here for a decade and belong to Gonda. When the accident happened we rushed out of our makeshift houses. We saw a PCR van which had crushed Gangaram’s head. We tried to stop them from fleeing and also saw alcohol bottles in their van.”
Yadav alleged that when locals tried to stop them, the police personnel pulled out their pistol and pointed it at the head of one of them. “They also threw away the mobile phone of a man who was recording the video,” he alleged.
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Pawan Kumar, a driver and a frequent visitor at the tea shop, said, “The van came at a high speed around 5 am and drove over the tea seller. He is usually awake by 4.30 AM. However, today he was asleep”.
He added that the police personnel frequently visited the tea stall.
Tiwari is survived by his wife and six children, including a 22-year-old son who lives in Delhi. His wife and his other children, including a 20-year-old son, reside in Gonda, the officer added.
The body has been sent for postmortem and further investigation is underway, police said.
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