Noida: Speeding bus kills man riding on wrong side, mob hurts cop in stone pelting

A 26-year-old delivery executive was killed by a bus in Noida after driving in the wrong lane. Locals clashed with police, injuring an officer.

A 26-year-old man who was riding in the wrong lane was crushed to death by a speeding bus near the Noida Sector 104 intersection on Thursday morning, police said, adding that the bus driver fled the scene on foot. After the accident, a mob comprising the victim’s acquaintances and locals gathered and pelted stones at police who were taking the body to a hospital, injuring a sub-inspector who received eight stitches on his head.

The bus involved in the accident. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

The victim was identified as Praveen Kumar, who worked as a delivery executive and was a resident of Salarpur in Noida. Police registered two cases at the Sector 39 police station and arrested four suspects for pelting stones at the police team.

“On Thursday at 8.30am, when Kumar was going to deliver groceries, he took the wrong lane on the Sector 104 route to avoid a longer route. When he reached near an intersection, a private bus coming from the opposite direction hit him, and he came under the wheels, and succumbed to his injuries on the spot,” said an officer, requesting anonymity.

“The bus driver escaped from the spot and left the bus behind. The bus did not have passengers at the time. When we received information on the emergency helpline number 112 from locals, a team from the Sector 39 police with Salarpur police outpost in-charge, sub-inspector, Abhishek Mishra, rushed to the spot,” the officer added.

The victim’s acquaintances, who also worked as delivery partners, and locals, gathered and pelted stones at the police team. Police called additional force and managed to control the situation, but a stone hit SI Mishra in the head, and he sustained grievous injuries. Mishra confirmed that he sustained eight stitches, and his condition is stable.

Police said that the mob allegedly did not let police take away the body for an autopsy because they wanted compensation for the death, and got angry and pelted stones.

“We have registered a case under Section 106 (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against the unidentified bus driver, and another case of obstructing a police officer from duty was also registered against 15 unidentified people,” said Sumit Shukla, additional deputy commissioner of police, Noida.

“Till Thursday evening, four suspects identified as Arvind Kumar, 26, Gurudev Pandit, 34, Sandeep Kumar, 24, and Savita, 25, were arrested for pelting stones and obstructing police from duty,” he added.

Police said they are investigating to arrest the bus driver and identify the other people who pelted stones.

Wrong side driving is a growing concern in Noida. According to data from the Noida traffic police, in January and February, the Noida police issued 35,397 challans for wrong-lane driving.

In 2024, 462 people were killed and 966 were injured in 1,165 accidents in Gautam Budh Nagar district. In the same period, the traffic police issued 2.8 million challans including 171,000 challans for wrong-side driving, the Noida traffic police said.