Mumbai: A traffic police constable attached to Navi Mumbai Traffic Police was run over by a truck driver on Friday near Uran. The incident occurred when the traffic constable asked intercepted the truck and asked driver for his licence and vehicle papers.
The policeman went ahead to take a photograph of the vehicle to check for challans when he was run over as the driver feared being booked.
The policeman, Nitin Kshirsagar (in pic), sustained serious injuries on his legs and is undergoing treatment at MGM hospital in Vashi. Meanwhile, Uran Police booked the truck driver, Galaram Nagjiram Devashi (21) and arrested him within hours after the incident.
According to police, Kshirsagar was deployed at a traffic checkpoint near Pagode Bridge at Navghar on Monday, when he saw the oncoming truck from the north-bound end of the bridge.
He stopped the truck to inspect it and asked the driver to produce his driving licence. Police said Kshirsagar then went in the front of the truck to take a photograph of the number plate and upload it on the e-challan system.
The truck driver Devashi, however, ran over Kshirsagar and fled the spot. The other traffic constables deployed at the same spot ran to help Kshirsagar and rushed him to MGM Hospital in Vashi. He sustained injuries on both his legs and a crack in his spine, said police.
Meanwhile, Uran Police began the probe to identify the driver to arrest him. “Traffic constable Kshirsagar had already taken the driving licence registered with the number RJ0420160012908, after which the driver fled the spot.
We alerted the Regional Transport Office to identify the driver and scrutinised the CCTV footage of the adjacent areas. Nearly 6 hours later, we arrested the driver and seized his truck (RJ-19-6C-7751),” said Jagadish Kulkarni, the senior inspector of Uran police station.
During the questioning, Devashi confessed to fleeing, fearing to pay the e-challan. “The driver, a resident of Jodhpur in Rajasthan, thought he would have to pay the challan after the system showed him as a defaulter.
He then ran over Kshirsagar to avoid paying the fine and fled the spot,” said Kulkarni.
The driver has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for attempt to murder (307), voluntarily causing grievous hurt to a public servant in the discharge of his duty (333), along with relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act. Devashi will be produced in a local court on Saturday.
