The speeding Tata 407 tempo hit the boy who was playing outside office. (Representational Image)
A three-and-a-half-year-old boy was fatally run over by a tempo allegedly driven rashly by its drunk driver in south west Delhi's Najafgarh area, police said.
The speeding Tata 407 tempo hit the boy, identified as Chinmay, who was playing outside the home while his father stood some distance away when the mishap occurred.
30-year-old tempo driver Dabbu Shah, who was in a drunken state, was caught by a mob and thrashed by them before being rescued by police. He was injured and admitted to a hospital In New Delhi with multiple injuries, police said.
A police officer said Shah, who was driving under the influence of alcohol, not only failed to see the boy playing in the lane, but also did not stop after running over the kid.
In his statement to the police, Shah claimed he did not realise the boy came under the wheels of his vehicle.
The police said the driver stopped the tempo only when local reidents screamed after seing the accident.
The police said few bottles of liquor were found from inside the vehicle and the driver's medical test also confirmed that he was drunk at the time of the accident.
"We arrested him for rash and negligent driving causing death," said the police officer.