Three-year-old injured in hit-and-run, father unable to get FIR filed

Victim's father alleges that eyewitnesses told the police the car number, but the vehicle has not been traced so far.

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Attuwari Lal with his injured son outside Sector 36 police station in Chandigarh. Kamleshwar Singh

Even A fortnight after a three-year-old boy was hit by a Swift Dzire bearing Haryana registration number, the Chandigarh Police has failed to lodge an FIR. As a result, the victim’s father is running from pillar to post to get justice. Panna Lal got multiple fractures in the left leg after he was hit outside his house at Attawa village, Sector 42, on July 7.

The victim’s father Attuwari Lal, a rickshaw-puller, told Chandigarh Newsline, “Three eyewitnesses noted down the registration number of the car which escaped from the spot. My son was rushed to GMSH-16 in a police vehicle. Later, my son was referred to PGI. Cops visited me twice in PGI assuring me that an FIR was lodged against an unknown car driver. My son was discharged on July 15 and since then I have been coming to Sector 36 police station to know the progress in the case. And today, I came to know that police have not even lodged any FIR.”

Holding Panna Lal in his hands outside Sector 36 police station, Attuwari said, “The car which escaped from the spot was caught in CCTV cameras installed outside two hotels located at Attawa village. I had tried to collect the footage but hotel owners refused to give it to me. Hotel owners claimed that they would hand it over to police personnel. Eyewitnesses handed over the registration number of Swift to ASI Jung Bahadur, who has been assuring me for the last one fortnight that he will trace the car within two days.”

When contacted, Inspector Naseeb Singh, SHO of Sector 36 police station, said, “I am checking the matter with ASI Jung Bahadur. Till now, no FIR was registered. I will personally interact with the father of the injured boy.”

According to the victim’s family members, Pannal Lal was standing outside his house when the car hit him and escaped from the spot. The victim is the youngest among three siblings. His two elder brothers — Kamla, 10, and Hira Lal, 5, — are school-going students. Merely a DDR was lodged at Sector 36 police station.

Late action

In a late-night development, a team from Sector 36 police station rushed at the house of Attuwari at Attawa for recording his fresh statement. Attuwari told Chandigarh Newsline a police party came to his house and informed him that legal action would be taken on his complaint. They took his signature on some papers. The team was headed by an Assistant Sub-Inspector.

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