Tags:
Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, March 31: A speeding Gypsy rammed a barricade near Sundar Nagar at around 3.15 a.m. today, critically injuring one of the policemen on duty. Ignoring constable Ram Gopal8217;s indication to slow down, 28-year-old Rohan Sud8217;s car rammed the barricade before it hit a tree and overturned. Sud has been arrested. The initial medical report apparently indicates that he was driving under the influence of alcohol. Sud was arrested on the spot under sections 279 rash driving and 337 causing hurt by endangering life of others.
While Sud was remanded to 14 days of judicial custody by Metropolitan Magistrate Manoj Jain today, constable Gopal is in Ward AB 7 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences AIIMS. The barricade rammed right into Constable Gopal, who was standing behind it, seriously injuring him in the abdomen. According to doctors attending Gopal, he has a fractured right pelvis and might require surgery. He is under observation at present.
Lying on his hospital bed, surrounded by a concerned family, constable Gopal sketchily recalls the incident. 8220;I had flashed my torch at the car indicating to it to slow down, but it never did,8221; says constable Gopal. 8220;The driver was speeding and before I knew it the barricade had rammed into me. I was just doing my job and for no fault of mine I am on a hospital bed.8221; With his son, the only earning member of the family, in bandages, constable Gopal8217;s father, Ghati Ram, says: 8220;Our entire family depends on him for survival. I have five sons, but he is the only one with a steady job. We have no farms, no nothing in our Ghaziabad home. This accident has affected all of us badly.8221;
Sitting outside the ward are constable Gopal8217;s mother and his wife. 8220;It is just five months since we got married,8221; says Seema, 8220;I had gone to my village a few days back and got the news there. It was difficult getting here and the doctors tell us that he is still not out of danger.8221;
While the family worries over their collective fate, the gates of the West Nizamuddin residence of the Sud8217;s are firmly shut. The only information a voice behind the gate volunteers is that Rohan Sud had gone to drop someone off and was on his way back home. And no, he had not gone to attend any party because 8220;nobody parties on Tuesday8221;.
