5-year-old boy, his grandfather killed in accident in Delhi’s Dwarka

The police identified the deceased as Vidit Kumar, a Class 1 student and the injured as Prem Prakash, 59, a Delhi Transport Corporation employee, who also suffered head injuries and is admitted to the hospital.

A 5-year-old boy was killed and his 59-year-old grandfather was injured when they were returning from a local park in Dwarka’s Chhawla area on Wednesday morning, police said explaining the incident as that of an accident even though the victim’s family alleged that it was a case of road rage.

On Thursday evening, the police said that they have apprehended a juvenile who was riding the bike that was involved in the accident.

The police identified the deceased as Vidit Kumar, a Class 1 student and the injured as Prem Prakash, 59, a Delhi Transport Corporation employee, who also suffered head injuries and is admitted to the hospital.

According to the police, Prakash was taking his two grandsons -- Vidit and his 3-year-old brother Jaksh -- to a local park and got involved in an accident with a bike. However, Vidit’s father, Mohit Kumar, has alleged that some unknown people on a bike assaulted his father and his son when the scooter they were riding brushed past their vehicle.

Officers associated with the case said that it was “an accident”, and a case under relevant sections pertaining to causing death by negligence has been registered at Chhawla police station.

On Thursday evening, the police said that they have apprehended a juvenile who was riding the bike that was involved in the accident. According to an investigator, two minor boys were riding the bike and hit Prem Prakash’s scooter from behind. He said the juvenile fell down and then fled the spot.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Vikram Singh said the police first received a call about an accident near Khatu Shyam Mandir in Chhawla, and another call from a hospital stating that a boy has been declared brought dead and his grandfather was injured.

Explaining the sequence of events, Singh said, “Prem Prakash was going on his scooter with his two grandsons aged 5 and 3. He got into an accident with an unknown bike. In the accident, the 5-year-old boy died and Prem Prakash got injured. A case under section 279,337, and 304A of the Indian Penal Code has been registered,” he said adding that the body of the boy was handed over to his parents after a post-mortem examination.

Singh said that teams have been formed to arrest the accused.

Kumar, an employee of Food Corporation of India, who is posted in Punjab, said that he was at work when he received a call about the incident around 7pm. “I immediately left for Delhi. My father told me that me that he had taken Vidit and his younger brother Jaksh to a park 2kms away from our house for the kids to play. When they were returning, his bike brushed past a bike after which the riders first attacked my father and then my son Vidit. My younger son was unharmed,” he said.

Kumar alleged that his father didn’t recognise the men who allegedly attacked him and the child. “The men left after attacking my father and son. Vidit was lying in a pool of blood for a few minutes. A coach from a local cricket academy nearby came and wrapped his shirt around Vidit’s bleeding head, and took the two to hospital,” he said. Kumar added that the coach also took his 3-year-old son to the hospital where he was reunited with his family.

Kumar said that he reached Delhi on Wednesday night and headed straight to Rao Tula Ram Memorial Hospital where Vidit’s body was preserved for post-mortem examination. “He had started going to school only a week ago, and my father used to take both the kids to park every day to play. He (the surviving child) hasn’t stopped crying since and my wife Aditi has mostly been unconscious,” he said, adding his mother is a Delhi Police sub-inspector.

A police officer privy to the matter said the family’s allegations are being looked into and necessary legal action will be taken after the post-mortem report is received.