Ghaziabad: Man runs over sleeping shopkeepers in Ramlila ground, held

Office bearers of Shri Dharmik Ramlila Samiti filed a police complaint stating that the incident took place at 3.31am, and left three people severely injured

Ghaziabad: The Ghaziabad police on Monday registered a first information report (FIR) into an incident where some unidentified men in a car allegedly barged into the Kavi Nagar Ramlila Ground during early hours of September 26 and ran over shopkeepers sleeping on the roadside, officials said on Monday, adding that the prime suspect, an MTech student, 25, was arrested.

Police officers said that the ongoing mela at the Kavi Nagar Ramlila ground shuts by 2am, and the incident happened during the wee hours. (Video Grab/HT Photo)

Office bearers of Shri Dharmik Ramlila Samiti filed a police complaint stating that the incident took place at 3.31am, and left three people severely injured.

“It was a dark coloured I-20 car, and its driver and occupants could not be identified. The car initially asked the watchman to open the gate, which was not fully shut. When the watchman denied them entry, they crashed the car into the gate, and the iron grilles got bent. Then, they crashed into a second gate and damaged it too. They seemed to be under the influence of alcohol and also urinated at different places at the Ramlila Ground,” said Ajay Jain, vice-chairperson of the Ramlila association and also the complainant in the case.

“Thereafter, the driver drove the car rashly and ran over several shopkeepers who were sleeping beside their shops. About 150-200 people gathered and few tried to chase the car, but the driver fled with the vehicle. We demand that full-time police security be provided at the Ramlila,” Jain said.

In the FIR, Jain has stated that the erring car ran over three shopkeepers, Madan Gopal alias Pintu, Vivek (single name), and Hiresh (single name), and injured them seriously. “One of them suffered severe injuries as the car ran him over from the middle portion of the body,” Jain added.

The Ramlila at Kavi Nagar is one of the biggest in Ghaziabad and has an estimated number of about 35,000-40,000 visitors per day.

Following Jain’s complaint, the Kavi Nagar police registered an FIR under the BNS sections 281 (rash and negligent driving on a public way), 125b (acts endangering life and personal safety of others), and 324(4) (causing mischief) against unidentified persons.

Police officers said that the ongoing mela at the Kavi Nagar Ramlila ground shuts by 2am, and the incident happened during the wee hours.

A purported CCTV video on social media of the incident shows that a car driven at slow speed runs over several people sleeping beside their shop on the ground. After others wake up and run towards the car, it flees the scene.

HT could not independently verify the video’s authenticity.

On Monday, police said they arrested one Ishan Singh, 25, a resident of Govindpuri in Meerut, in whose name the car was registered, and he was allegedly driving the car.

“Ishan is doing MTech in Noida and was with his three friends in the car. From Meerut, they first went to a restaurant near the Delhi Meerut Expressway, where they had dinner, and all four later consumed liquor. Then, they came to the Ramlila Ground at Kavi Nagar and told the guard at the gate that some local fast food stall owner inside was their friend,” said ACP (Kavi Nagar circle) Suryabali Maurya.

“The CCTV shows that while he was turning his car, it ran over shopkeepers who were sleeping on the ground. The medical examination of two injured people was done at MMG Hospital, and they are stable. We are trying to get the condition of the third injured,” the ACP added.

The suspect was arrested after the police traced the car’s registration number, while his three friends will also be called for questioning, he added.