Man who ran over ACP held after 7-day search
SPOTTED Cops pored over footage from 100s of CCTV cameras to find mini-truck that mowed down police official near Rajokri flyover
nNEW DELHI: After scanning more than 220 vehicles of a similar make, the Delhi Police on Saturday said they have arrested the driver who had fled after killing a 54-year-old assistant commissioner of police (ACP) in a hitand-run accident on July 25.
Police said they arrested the errant driver, Amit Pulami, 28, on Friday and impounded the mini truck that had rammed the officer, ACP Sanket Kaushik, who was posted with the Dwarka traffic circle, and dragged him for nearly 50m on a service lane near the Rajokri flyover.
Kaushik had got out of his vehicle and was clearing the traffic when he was hit by the mini truck.pulami, police said, originally belongs to Nepal and had come to India for work about one-and-a-half years ago.
Footage from more than 100 CCTV cameras was scanned and over 220 mini trucks with a similar make that were found moving through the area at the time of the incident were checked to zero in on the errant vehicle and driver, police said.
A broken iron angle bar of the vehicle, recovered from the mishap spot, was the only piece of evidence with the police to identify the vehicle.
“We inspected the iron bar and it helped us realise that we could be looking for a mini truck. Footage from CCTV cameras on all possible routes from the spot was checked and that helped us establish that a white mini truck had fatally rammed the officer,” said deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Devender Arya.
Narrating the sequence of events, Arya said on July 25, around 8pm, Kaushik had left his office in his official vehicle along with his driver and wireless operator when they came across a jam on the service lane near the Rajokri flover. Kaushik and his staff went to help clear the snarl. While his driver and operator were busy moving a car, Kaushik walked ahead on the road.
“A vehicle hit him from behind and dragged him for nearly 50 metres before hitting the concrete barriers placed on the road. The ACP suffered multiple injuries and was declared brought dead at the AIIMS Trauma Centre. A case of rash and negligent driving causing death under sections 279 and 304A of the Indian Penal Code was registered and the investigation was taken up,” Arya said.
Six teams were formed and they collected details of all mini trucks with a similar make and colour that passed through the MCD toll tax booth on the Delhiharyana border before and after the mishap.
About 50 such vehicles were examined.
The records of 52 mini trucks from the cargo wing at the Delhi airport were also obtained, analysed and verified. Similarly, all warehouses in Rajokri, Mahipalpur, Kapashera, Samalkha, and Bijwasan were thoroughly examined and their records checked to ascertain the movement of 120 such vehicles, the DCP said.
“The entire effort helped us zero in on a white mini truck attached to a warehouse in Rangpuri. Accordingly, the vehicle was recovered and its driver, Amit Pulami, was arrested on Friday. The truck was examined and its left headlight was found broken -Pulami had got it replaced at a local garage to mislead the police,” Arya said.
NEW DELHI: Thirty-seven police personnel were suspended on Saturday for dereliction of duty after they failed to turn up at the scheduled time to join the security arrangement duty for Eid-ulzuha in northwest district. All 37 were part of the reserve force of deputy commissioner of police (northwest) Vijayanta Arya and they were supposed to report at her office in Ashok Vihar at 5am. However, some reached after 5.30am, others came an hour late.
“The security arrangement for any religious festival is a sensitive duty... However, the personnel took this casually and remained absent on an important event. The DCP suspended them and sent them to district lines,” Delhi police spokesperson Anil Mittal said.