noida

Updated: Jul 21, 2017 22:32 IST

Relatives of 65-year-old Abdul Majeed alleged police laxity and claimed that police personnel failed to chase the Dak Kanwariyas who crushed Majeed under their truck and escaped on the busy highway after locals urged them to keep moving.

Majeed died on the spot while his son, Shamshad, suffered a leg injury in a hit-and-run incident on NH-24 on Friday morning. The father-son duo was riding a bike to a pressure cooker manufacturing unit in Noida where they work.

“A police patrol bike arrived immediately after the incident and minutes later, a PCR van arrived (at the spot). However, they showed no urgency in chasing the Dak Kanwariyas or their vehicle, which could have hardly moved far from the scene of the crime. Before the police arrived, the Kanwariyas also landed a couple of blows on Shamshad and his cousin, Riyazuddin, when they tried to move Majeed from their way,” Siraj, Shamshad’s cousin, said.

“Riyazuddin tried to intervene and tried to move between the Kanwariyas to pick Majeed up. However, they rebuked him and landed a blow with a baseball bat, which they generally carry along during the Yatra. He sustained a blow on his shoulders and pleaded the Kanwariyas to allow him to move to the other side and pick up the body. Later, with the intervention of locals, he was allowed,” Siraj said.

Majeed is from Rajapur and was the father of six children, including two married daughters. Majeed’s 62-year-old wife was shattered on getting to know about her husband’s death. Family members said she is suffering from health issues and had undergone two surgeries earlier.

“Shamshad also had an altercation with Kanwariyas as he tried to hold on to the people who were riding the bike that hit his vehicle. On the intervention of locals, Shamshad was separated from their clutches. However, the locals told the Kanwariyas to escape with their truck and they moved ahead and disappeared before the police arrived,” Riyazuddin said.

Till late evening, the police teams, accompanied by Shamshad, scanned CCTV footage to trace the Kanwariyas involved. The family said that their truck had ‘Greater Noida’ written over it.

“We will inquire and trace the emergency calls to police to look into what time the police arrived and whether they were in a position to chase the Kanwariyas and their truck. A case has been registered and the culprits will be nabbed soon,” said Rupesh Singh, circle officer (city II).

The rear tyres of the truck in which the Kanwariyas were travelling crushed the victim and he died on the spot. The body was later sent for a post-mortem examination. The incident took place after the victim’s bike hit the bike of the Kanwariyas and they slipped.