Sole breadwinner in family, Zepto delivery agent run over by car worked night shifts to earn more, says kin

The accused, a resident of Najafgarh who works as an MCD contractor, was detained at the spot and his vehicle seized, DCP (West) Darade Sharad Bhaskar was quoted as saying by PTI.

Mohit Kumar (27) was later arrested.

A PCR call was received at the Tilak Nagar police station at 3.26 am. A team of officers rushed to the spot near Subhash Nagar Metro station signal  where two vehicles involved in the accident were found.

By then, bystanders had already taken Hem Shankar to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. An FIR has been registered and further legal action is underway, said police.

The news of Hem’s death was received by his family members on Saturday morning. “I have no one left now. First, my husband died, now my son too,” his mother was quoted as saying by PTI.

His dreams to travel across India and give his mother and two brothers a comfortable life were crushed and a life was cut short, said Hem’s brother–in-law Surendra Kumar.

According to the family, they had last seen Hem around 9 pm on Friday before he left for work. “Shankar was the sole breadwinner of the family. His elder brother was having trouble holding down a job and his younger brother is still in school. He chose not to go to the wedding because he didn’t want to get a pay cut,” said Surendra. He added that Hem was in a hurry before he left for work on Friday and managed to eat dinner from outside.

“He often looked out for people around him. His mother was tired after coming back from the wedding in Tigri Khanpur on Friday. So he didn’t want to trouble her with dinner preparation,” said Surendra.

He further said that Hem  had been working the night shifts at Zepto for close to three years as it paid more than day shifts. “He said he used to get Rs 2,000-3,000 more every month by doing this,” said Surendra.

Hem was close to Surendra and would confide in his dreams to travel across India.

“He used to save up and visit devotional places… easier to reach and cheaper to stay in. He went to Jagannath in Puri during the Rath Yatra last year. He was saving up money to do a tour of the 12 Jyotirlingas,” he said.

Hem had lost his father in 2015 when he was still in school. His mother, Surendra said, kept the family afloat by working as a domestic help.

“Then she developed high blood pressure, got cataracts in both eyes…after that, Shankar began working,” he said.