Traffic cops beat trucker to death, allege kin

Family members alleged that the police “delayed” conducting the postmortem despite assuring them on the weekend that the autopsy would be done today.

A relative, Mohammed Umar, said: “We have visited the police station several times since this morning but we did not get any satisfactory reply. After giving us excuses since morning, policemen told us that postmortem would be conducted on Tuesday.”

The family had claimed on Sunday that the police did not hand over the body on the pretext that the autopsy would be conducted on Monday.

According to Umar, following lack of cooperation from the local police they took their case to the Police Headquarters and began demanding that the post-mortem be conducted at the earliest. “Senior officers at the Police Headquarters then assured us that the postmortem would be conducted tomorrow (Tuesday),” Umar said. 

According to sources, Jabbar was stopped by traffic policemen near Karnal Chowk bypass — he was reportedly driving from Swaroop Nagar towards Haiderpur at the time — on Saturday night and penalised for jumping a red light. “The cops asked him to pay up Rs 100,” Umar said, “but he was carrying only Rs 50 at the time.

“When he said this, the policemen beat him up — he died as a result of severe beating.” He alleged that the traffic policemen on duty asked a rickshaw-puller to admit Jabbar to hospital.

Jabbar’s father Deen Mohammed said, “He hadn’t eaten anything since he had kept a roza (fast). We don’t know where the cops hit him but we believe he died on the spot. The police told us about his death on Sunday.”

Mohammed Umar, a student of MA (Arabic) in Delhi University and lives in Sadar Bazar area of the Capital, said he reached the hospital immediately after getting to know about the mishap on Sunday.

Jabbar’s family members — father Deen Mohammed, mother Ramzano, wife Shakila and brothers Jamshed and Zubair — were at the hospital. Jabbar was driving a truck owned by a company called “BGR” (Bombay Gujarat Roadways). Umar claimed locals have told the family that the traffic policeman who hit Jabbar is known as “Pehlwan” in the area and is absconding since the incident.

DCP (Outer district) Atul Katiyar said, “We have written for his postmortem. It will be conducted tomorrow. The next step will be taken once the reports are out.” About the family’s allegations, he said no has come out till now to prove that aspect. Further investigations are on, he added.