Drunk pub manager 'drives car over five policemen and crushes three patrol bikes near Akshardham temple'



Sunil Sharma, manager at Seven Degrees bar in Gurgaon, who was driving the car

The manager of a pub ran over five policemen at a police picket near the Akshardham temple in east Delhi on Wednesday night, leaving one with serious injuries.



Sunil Sharma, manager at Seven Degrees resto bar in Gurgaon, has been arrested.



The 27-year-old, who was returning to his residence in Ghaziabad's Vaishali, was reportedly dead drunk when he ran over the policemen. Eight officers were on duty at the police picket, just 100m ahead of the flyover running in front of the Commonwealth Games Village.



At around 1.40am, the Chevrolet Aveo, coming from Nizamuddin side, came down the flyover on its way towards national highway (NH)-24, which goes to Ghaziabad. Policemen at the picket later said they saw the car swerve wildly on the road, going from one side to the other.



As it left the flyover, the car, driven by Sharma, first hit a road median. He then took a sharp left and drove towards the police picket.



Sharma first hit a constable who was signalling at him to stop. The policeman, Avnish, fell down and was dragged by the car for some distance.



The constable received serious injuries to his back, neck and spine. He is being treated at a private hospital and his condition is stable.



The out-of-control car then hit four other policemen and crushed three police patrol bikes parked near the picket before coming to rest on the footpath.



The other policemen on duty took the injured policemen to hospital and arrested the driver. The car has been impounded.



Besides Avnish, the other policemen injured are head constables Manoj Kumar and Sundar Lal, constable Sheesh Lal and home guard Sipahi Singh. All of them were rushed to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, and three were later discharged. Avnish was shifted to Deepak Memorial Hospital in east Delhi.









"The car was being driven in a rash manner. Before we could stop it, the car rammed the road divider and then hit us. Three police bikes were also hit by the car. One of my colleagues (Avnish) who tried to catch the driver was dragged for some distance and received serious injuries," head constable Kumar, who was injured in the accident, said.



A case has been registered against Sharma under various IPC sections for rash, negligent and drunken driving .



He was dead drunk when he ran over the policemen, a police officer said. His alcometer reading recorded after the incident was 98, far exceeding the permissible limit.



"We normally book people when the reading is 30," the officer said.



The accused driver's Chevrolet Aveo has been impounded

Besides sending drunk drivers to jail, city courts have also been punishing such drivers by asking them to do community service in gurudwaras or regulate traffic.



But clearly the punishments have had no effect on city motorists. Drunk-driving figures in the city are at an all-time high.



The number of drunk-driving prosecutions in the first 10 months of this year is the highest ever recorded in a single year in the past decade.



In all, 20,606 people - the number was 18,073 in 2011 and 11,388 in 2010 - have been prosecuted till October 31 this year.



