Doctor cycling back home from work mowed down by car in Malviya Nagar, dies

A 52-year-old doctor, who served as a Covid-19 nodal officer and was cycling back home from work, was killed in a hit-and-run accident on Monday afternoon.

A 52-year-old doctor, who served as a Covid-19 nodal officer and was cycling back home from work, was killed in a hit-and-run accident on Monday afternoon.

Image for representation purpose (Fle photo)

The doctor, Jai Prakash Yadav, was posted at an MCD polyclinic in South Delhi’s Mehrauli and served as the South zone’s nodal officer for Covid-19, said Alka Gupta, additional director (health and administration department). Yadav’s car had developed a problem a few days ago and as he could not find a mechanic to fix it, he had been using his son’s bicycle to commute to and from work.

According to Atul Kumar Thakur, deputy commissioner of police (South), the accident took place around 3.30pm Monday while Yadav was cycling back home to Greater Kailash-1 from the polyclinic.

He lived with his wife, who works at a private hospital, and two children in the MCD Officer’s Flat in GK-1. The family belonged to Supaul in Bihar.

“The doctor was turning right at a traffic junction near the Police Training School in Malviya Nagar, when his bicycle was rammed by a four-wheeler which sped away immediately after the accident,” the DCP said.

Another police officer said it was a white car that hit the doctor. The driver quickly reversed his vehicle to get away from the mangled remains of the bicycle and the injured doctor and sped away.

Yadav’s colleague, Ankit, who was right behind him in his car,saw Yadav lying injured and rushed him to Max Hospital in Saket where he succumbed to injuries during treatment. “They were only able to note the colour of the car,” the officer said.

Yadav’s colleague, Dr RN Prasad, said the impact of the hit was such that Yadav was thrown into the air before landing on the road. “Ankit Bhai, please save me”, Yadav is said to have told his colleague who rushed him to hospital, Prasad said. “But the impact of the hit was such that his veins had ruptured and he died of excessive bleeding,” he said.

The police were alerted by 6.30pm and have registered a case of causing death by negligence and rash driving against the unknown driver. “We are checking the CCTV footage along that route to identify the offending vehicle,” the DCP said.

Prasad said Yadav’s car had developed a snag a few days ago and he was unable to find a mechanic due to the lockdown. So he was using his son’s sports bicycle to reach the polyclinic and back. “He had urged a security guard to arrange a mechanic. For the last few days, he was commuting by bicycle,” Prasad said.

On Monday, Yadav was returning home after distributing personal protective kits to health workers, Prasad said.

Yadav’s brother-in-law, Sudhir Kumar, urged police to spare no effort in arresting the errant driver. “We have heard that the driver was a young man and that he was speeding. When the entire city is in lockdown and there are so few vehicles out on the road, someone was speeding and ended up killing a doctor who was risking his life for the country. Now, we’ll focus on getting justice for him,” Kumar said.

Dr Gupta, meanwhile, remembered Yadav as a “good doctor and a very nice human being”. He was handling the Covid screening data for the South zone as its the zonal director. Yadav knew the system well and it will be difficult to replace him,” she said.