When Sukumar, 24, stepped out in search of work around 5 am on Thursday, his 55-year-old father Gangaram Tiwari was sleeping at the tea stall owned by the family — put up on the pavement near the RK Ashram metro station in Central Delhi. Around 30 minutes later, he got a call and was told that his father was dead.
Gangaram was killed after a Delhi Police patrolling van rammed into the stall while he was sleeping. Constable Khimlesh, who was driving the car was arrested on Thursday night, police said. Earlier in the day, Khimlesh and an ASI who was present in the PCR van at the time of the incident, were suspended, police said. Police said that it seemed that Khimlesh had dozed off and pressed the accelerator instead of the brake — leading to the accident.
Gangaram had been running the stall for the last 15 years and would sleep inside it, along with his son. “I had gone out in search of work. I help load furniture on vehicles in the nearby market,” said Sukumar.
“When I came back, I saw the vehicle. It had rammed into our tea stall. They took my father to a hospital before I had arrived,” added Sukumar.
The tea stall has a yellow tarpaulin, balanced on thin sticks, playing roof. A cemented base under a tree beside it acts as the floor. The set-up, next to a Hanuman Mandir, has been the main source of income for the family. There are two tables inside — one for jars of biscuits and munchies, the other for a gas stove. Gangaram would start operating his stall at 6am every day.
Sukumar said that the accused constable and the ASI would come to the area daily. “They would go inside the police booth, about 100 metres away from the tree beside the stall… Both the policemen ran inside the booth after the accident,” he said.
Gangaram was a father of six. Sukumar has a 21-year-old brother, Vinay, and four sisters — Rinki (30), Laxmi (22) and two others aged 14 and 12. Of the six siblings, only Sukumar used to live with Gangaram in Delhi. “Vinay is mute and lives with the rest of his family in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda. Rinki is married,” says Akhilesh Tiwari, Gangaram’s relative.
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Akhilesh, who has been living in the area since the last decade, said that he was loading cartons on a vehicle, when he heard a “bang”. “I came running and saw that he (Gangaram) was under a car. We encircled the accused policemen. We then took them to the Mandir Marg police station,” Akhilesh added.
Gangaram’s brother-in-law Rajender Tiwari, meanwhile, said that the family was already burdened with “mounting medical bills”. “My sister Malti (Gangaram’s wife) is being treated for a decade-old-injury. Vinay’s treatment is also underway in Gorakhpur. He did not have enough money to bring the family here (Delhi). He was also looking for a groom for his daughter Laxmi. He was doing everything alone,” said Rajender.
Anand Kumar, a shoe-shiner and an old friend of the deceased, said he would start his day at the tea stall. He said his mornings will be different now. “Lonelier”, he said. “We shared a good bond. I will not like it here any more (without him),” added Anand.
Gangaram took support of crutches to walk as he had lost one leg to polio, and another to an accident 10 years ago. “He used to earn around Rs 12,000 a month, and was saving up for our weddings,” added Sukumar.
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According to the police, the accident happened at 5 am when the PCR van was patrolling the area. The vehicle has also been seized, a senior officer said. “Prima facie, it appears that the constable had lost control of the vehicle while taking a turn, and it got onto a pavement, crashing into the tea stall,” the officer said.
