An 11-year-old school boy was knocked down by a speeding Delhi Transport Corporation bus in South Delhi’s Khanpur on Friday morning.
According to the police, the incident took place around 11 a.m. when the victim, Aman, was crossing the road to go to school in Pushp Vihar. Aman was a Class V student at Madangiri Government School.
The bus was plying on the Sarojini Nagar-Badarpur route. The driver immediately fled the spot, leaving the bus on the spot.
According to eyewitnesses, the bus driver was over-speeding and lost control over the wheel. They called the police and a PCR van took the boy to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences Trauma Centre. However, he was declared dead upon arrival at the hospital.
A case under Sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 304 A (Causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered at the Ambedkar Nagar police station against the errant driver and a manhunt is on to nab him.
After the incident, outraged locals went on the rampage. “The crowd targeted over 12 buses including cluster buses and DTC buses. Before the situation could be brought under control, there was a huge traffic jam near Khanpur chowk for nearly two hours,” a police officer said.
The police had to deploy a huge force to deter the protesting crowd. Eyewitnesses later claimed that the outrage was because of the delay in police action. “We informed the police in time but they came almost an hour after the incident. The boy died because of this delay,” a protester present at the spot claimed.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Government’s Transport Department has announced a compensation of Rs.5 lakh for the victim’s family.
The Delhi Government has initiated an inquiry into the incident. “Transport Minister Gopal Rai has asked the officials concerned for a factual report on the tragic incident,” a statement issued by the Delhi Government read.
