In a shocking incident, a three-year-old boy was killed after a police barricade fell on him at Madhu Vihar in East Delhi on Sunday.
The boy, Kunal, was with his 65-year-old grandmother Pramila Devi when the incident took place around 7 p.m. “His grandmother runs an eatery stall in the area. She was busy cooking food when the boy walked up towards one of the barricades kept along the road. He was trying to climb it when it fell on him,” said a police officer. Kunal came under the barricade and sustained serious head injuries.
Hearing Kunal’s screams, his grandmother and the bystanders rushed to his help. He was immediately taken to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital where he succumbed to the injuries during treatment. The boy’s body has been handed over to his family members.
Kunal lived in Madhu Vihar along with his father Virender, an auto-rickshaw driver, mother Khushboo, seven-year-old old brother and grandmother Pramila Devi.
Stating that there was no negligence on their part, the police claimed that the barricades were placed along the road. “They are placed on the road during the routine picket check between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. The barricades are heavy and cannot be transported every now and then. However, we take them off the road after the checking hours to prevent any inconvenience to road users,” said the officer, describing the boy’s death as an unfortunate incident.
However, many commuters from different parts of the city allege that on several occasions they have come across barricades placed on the roads unattended late at night, which cause inconvenience and even pose a potential threat to motorists, in particular two-wheeler riders. “On many occasions, barricades are also left unattended on roads during daytime which hampers smooth vehicular flow,” said one of them.
