Delhi police traffic constable Mana Rams (inset) father mourn during his last rites in New Delhi on Sunday.
A traffic constable of the Delhi Police was allegedly run over by three people in a car on Saturday, all because he asked the driver to take a detour.
The incident happened at 7:30 pm when traffic constable Mana Ram, 26, had stopped the car of the accused, 26-year-old Raman Kant - who was driving along with two minors - at the Motinagar Chowk in West Delhi.
Every evening between 7 and 9, which are peak traffic hours, the police sets up a diversion at the Motinagar Chowk to avoid a traffic jam. When Mana Ram asked Raman Kant to take a detour, an argument broke out between the three people in the car and the traffic constable.
To run away from the spot, Raman Kant reversed his car, and the constable jumped on the bonnet to stop them. The accused then allegedly drove the car in a zigzag manner for about 150 metres, braked suddenly to throw off Mana Ram and then ran over him. The three occupants of the car then left the vehicle at the spot and ran away.
Mana Ram was rushed to a hospital, but was declared brought dead.
The three accused were later arrested from Shastri Nagar. Charges of murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code have been filed against Raman while the two minors have been sent to a judicial home.
Mana Ram had joined the Delhi Police's traffic department just last year. Originally from Rajasthan, Mana Ram is survived by his wife, a two-and-a-half-year old child and a younger sister. The Delhi Police have honoured him as a martyr killed in the line of duty, and have given some financial assistance to his family from the Delhi Police's martyr's fund.
However, the murder of a policeman on duty comes as a huge blow to the department, which has recently gone on an overdrive to maintain order on the roads of the national capital, following union minister Gopinath Munde's death in a road accident two weeks ago.