Truck runs amok at India Gate; kills minor girl, dad

New Delhi: A speeding dumper truck ploughed into at least three auto-rickshaws and a scooter near India Gate in the early hours of Tuesday, killing a man and his eight-year-old daughter and injuring two. The horror unfolded shortly after midnight when the truck driver lost control of his vehicle and ran over other vehicles and pedestrians before crossing the divider and landing in the lawns of the Central Delhi boulevard.

The deceased were identified as Kewal Diwan (42) and his daughter Manya (8), residents of Geeta Colony.

The impact was so intense that the vehicles were reduced to a mangled heap of metal. The driver, identified as Raman (24), a resident of Badarpur, was arrested from the spot and his vehicle was seized, said the police.

“We received information at around 12.20 am regarding the accident near India Gate on Mansingh Road. A team rushed to the spot and found that one dumper had entered the Rajpath lawns (South side) after hitting several vehicles and crossing over the footpath,” said a senior police officer.

Eye witnesses told the police that the dumper first hit the divider after which it hit the autos and pedestrians standing near the footpath. A man, aged around 42 years, was also found lying near the dumper. He was immediately shifted to a hospital where he was declared brought dead. He was later identified as Kewal Diwan. Manya was also declared brought dead by the hospital.

While little remained of the auto-rickshaws, a two-wheeler was crushed under the truck, the police said.

“Three injured persons were taken to the hospital. Of them, one girl was declared brought dead,” an official said.

He added that the driver, Raman, sustained a fracture in his right hand. “He has been sent to the LNJP hospital, where he is undergoing treatment and will be tested for alcohol. A case under relevant sections of the law has been registered in the case,” the official said.

Those injured have been identified as Deepak Kumar (27), an auto-rickshaw driver and a resident of Mata Sundari Road, and Ram Singh (24), a labourer who was on the footpath and is a resident of Unnao in UP.

“The two are undergoing treatment,” the officer added. Kewal, along with his wife Poonam Diwan and two daughters, was visiting the India Gate.