JOIN USA 22-year-old man died allegedly in firing by Delhi Police after a mob went on rampage over the death of a three-year-old boy in outer Delhi’s Holambi Kalan on Thursday.
Police, however, denied opening fire. The minor boy had died after being hit by a speeding school bus on Thursday morning.
The mob damaged vehicles and pelted stones at trains passing through Holambi Kalan railway station for around 20 minutes. Locals alleged that policemen were overpowered and thrashed due to which they opened fire.
Police, however, claimed that they only resorted to lathicharge and firing tear-gas shells to disperse the mob.
Police said 17 policemen, including SHO Shahbad Dairy and an Assistant Commissioner of Police, were injured. Apart from the school bus, the mob damaged four cars, set a motorcycle on fire and shattered the windscreen of a police emergency response vehicle.
The boy who died in the road accident has been identified as Aditya. The bus mowed him down when he was returning home from his grandmother grocery store. Locals immediately intercepted the bus and brought it to halt.
“The driver was taken off the bus and beaten up before police arrived at the spot,” said Vikramjit Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer).
Aditya was rushed to Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, where he was declared brought dead.
A call was made to the police control room reporting the incident around 8.30 am. Thereafter, the public went on a rampage damaging vehicles. Over 100 people had gathered there and attacked policemen from the PCR unit and local police station.
During the melee, a man named Wasim sustained a gunshot wound in the chest. He was also declared brought dead at Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital.
Extra police force was called in to take the situation under control. Wasim’s body has been sent for a post-mortem and an examination will be conducted by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory to confirm the source of the gunshot.
Wasim sold peanuts in a cart near the spot.
Senior district and traffic police officers were at the spot to take stock of the situation. The incident also led to traffic snarls in the area and traffic was hit on roads leading to Shahbad Dairy, Narela and Bawana for over two hours.
The driver of the school bus was arrested after being discharged from hospital. He had sustained minor injuries in the attack by locals.
On being questioned, he told police the he failed to see the boy while taking a turn from a traffic signal.
A case of rash driving and causing death by negligence has been filed with Shahbad Dairy police station.
Another case of rioting has been registered against unknown persons for creating ruckus and damaging public property.
“Appropriate legal action is being taken,” Singh added.