The menace of drunken driving returned to haunt the Capital in the early hours of Sunday when a speeding vehicle ran over two policemen and left another critically injured at a police picket in Kalindi Kunj.
The errant cab driver, Hemant Kumar, who was inebriated and even carrying a bottle of liquor in his car, has been arrested.
The deceased - Assistant Sub Inspector Nagender Pal Singh (52) and Constable Sawarkar Prahlad Ramrao (41) - were both posted at the Jaitpur police station as is Head Constable Kaptan Singh (52), who is battling for life.
The accident took place when the three policemen were manning a police picket at Okhla Barrage on the Delhi-Noida border.
According to the police, the barricades were placed in a Z-formation and the three policemen were standing right behind the first one.
“Around 12-30 a.m., a speeding Eeco van coming from Noida hit the barricade and the three policemen fell on the road. While Kaptan managed to roll over and save himself, the other two were dragged along for about 30 metres before the vehicle came to a halt,” said a senior police officer.
As the three injured men lay on the road, some passers-by called up the police control room and reported the incident. One of them was a television journalist coming from Noida.
“Hemant was so drunk that he was clueless about the accident. He was arrested at the spot,” said the officer.
The injured were all taken to the nearby Apollo Hospital where Singh and Ramrao succumbed to their injuries. They had both sustained severe head injuries.
Kaptan, who suffered a broken rib and head injury, is undergoing treatment at the intensive care unit of the same hospital.
Hemant, who hails from Uttarakhand and lives in Ghaziabad, drove the vehicle for a call centre in Noida. The accident took place when he was on his way to a friend’s place in Delhi. He has been booked for causing death by negligent and rash driving.
