A 48-year-old Delhi Police head constable was shot dead by unidentified men in Kanjhawala in New Delhi on Monday when he stopped their car for a routine vehicle check.
Head constable Ram Kishan had stopped a white Honda City for a routine vehicle check at Jonty Kannoda toll tax on the outskirts of the Capital around 2 a.m. when two of the car occupants opened fired at him following a scuffle.
“There were four people in the car and all of them were carrying weapons. When Ram Kishan stopped them for a routine check, they objected to the same and an altercation ensued. Ram Kishan asked them to come out of the car, but they refused and a scuffle broke out. The man in the passenger seat fired at Ram Kishan, hitting him in the thigh. Undeterred, Ram Kishan pulled him out of the car. At this, another man sitting on the rear seat fired two shots at Ram Kishan. He was hit in the shoulder and collapsed,” said Ram Kishan’s brother Bharat Singh, recalling the incident as told to him by the police.
Sub-Inspector Khazan Singh, head constable Bijender and constable G.K. Siddaia were standing at some distance from Ram Kishan when the incident took place. On hearing the gunshots, they ran towards Ram Kishan, who was lying in a pool of blood. The culprits took a u-turn and drove towards Haryana. Ram Kishan was declared dead on arrival at the hospital.
“We got a call from the police around 3.30 a.m. informing us about the tragedy. Later, some policemen came to us and took us to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital, where Ram Kishan’s body was kept for post-mortem,” said Mr. Bharat Singh.
The last rites were performed with ceremonial honours at a cremation ground behind Surajmal Stadium in Nangloi around noon in the presence of senior police officers.
Ram Kishan, a resident of Nangloi, had joined the Delhi Police in 1982. He was conferred the Asadharan Karya Puraskar in 2003.
Ram Kishan is survived by his wife Sunil Devi and two sons. His older son Neeraj (21) is pursuing M. Tech from IIT-Roorkee, while younger son Dheeraj is doing B. Tech in Bahadurgarh.
Recalling Ram Kishan as an “upright” and “kind-hearted” man, Mr. Bharat Singh said: “He was wrestler and had won several awards. He had been the champion wrestler at a national-level police championship.”