Fatal accident: Lawyer moves Police Complaint Authority

Express News Service: Thu Sep 09 2010: Chandigarh:

A city advocate has filed a complaint with the Police Complaints Authority against Chandigarh Traffic Police alleging police negligence while investigating an accident case in which a cyclist was killed. Advocate H C Arora, state president of RTI Activists Federation, Punjab, today filed a complaint in the Police Complaint Authority against the Chandigarh Police pertaining to killing of one cyclist in an accident.

The cyclist was knocked down by a scooter being driven by Payal Arora, a resident of Mundi Kharar. The victim succumbed in PGI today. The advocate has alleged lackadaisical attitude of the police in handling the case. The Investigating Officer told Kerfew, the son of the victim, to accompany him to the police station when he was at a critical stage, instead of recording his statement there and then.

The advocate also questioned the police conduct whether it was correct that the accused-Payal Arora-was nabbed by the people at the spot, but she was allowed by the police to leave the spot. Later, the police had claimed she was arrested and was later released on bail.

The victim, Sukhal Praja Pati, a resident of Sector 56 died in PGI today. The girl, Payal, a BA final year student of Dev Samaj College for Women in Sector 45 was found to be driving without a licence.

The victim’s son Kurfew Nath, was following his father on a scooter on Monday evening when the mishap occurred around 5 pm. He told the police that the recklessly driven scooter number PB 65 J 1460 rammed his father’s bicycle from the rear, following which his father lost control and fell on the road. He suffered severe head injuries and was rushed to the Sector-16 hospital from where he was referred to the PGI where he died. .

Arora has also lambasted the “Traffic Marshals Scheme” of the Chandigarh Police and has stated that “Chandigarh police has appointed some citizens as Traffic Marshals; none out of them comes to traffic nakas when called upon; the only exception had been Traffic Marshal Gurnam Singh, who is nursing his injuries these days after having been hit by a scooterist while on duty.