Decorated Delhi cop shot dead for stopping car

A 48-year-old Delhi Police head constable was gunned down by four unidentified men at a checkpoint located on an ill-lit, narrow and elevated northwest Delhi village street on Sunday night, as his subordinates allegedly looked the other way. HT reports.

A 48-year-old Delhi Police head constable was gunned down by four unidentified men at a checkpoint located on an ill-lit, narrow and elevated northwest Delhi village street on Sunday night, as his subordinates allegedly looked the other way.

Ram Kishan, a gold medallist wrestler in his heyday and a decorated policeman with an Asadharan Karya Puraskar (AKP), got inducted into the force in 1982. He was posted on picket duty 8pm onwards at the Jonty Kannoda toll tax booth, near outer Delhi’s Kanjhawala since September.

Ram Kishan belonged to a family of servicemen. His father Hardwari Lal retired from the army and three elder brothers served the air force and one brother was with the BSF until a few years ago. Ram Kishan had left his Vinay Enclave residence at Nangloi around 7.30pm.

“Around 2.25 am, a Honda City car came towards him from the adjacent Jonty Village side which was stopped by for checking. After checking the men sitting on both the rear seats, Ram Kishan asked the person sitting beside the driver to step down for checking,” said BS Jaiswal, deputy commissioner of police (outer).

However, instead of getting off the vehicle, the man brandished a pistol at Ram Kishan, which he snatched, prompting the driver to swiftly put the car in reverse.

In reaction to this, Ram Kishan grabbed on to the vehicle’s window only to be shot at thrice by one of the occupants of the white, luxury sedan, police claimed.

“The road was badly lit and the driver lost control of the vehicle almost immediately after shots were fired making the car plummet into an agricultural field a few metres ahead of the picket,” said an officer.

“Just a few metres ahead, the constable on duty with him was getting his and Ram Kishan’s attendance marked to his superior,” he added.

He was rushed to the Brahma Shakti Hospital where he was declared brought dead. Senior officers, however, denied any allegations of inefficiency or neglect. “He was a good investigator and proficient in police station working. He was rewarded the AKP in 2003. His was an act of bravery and no stone is being left unturned to nab his killers,” DCP Jaiswal said.

A pall of gloom descended on Ram Kishan’s house in Nangloi as soon as the family got wind of the incident around 3am. “He was good at whatever he did since his student days at Kullu where he fell in love with wrestling and won an all India medal in freestyle wrestling,” said his brother Bharat Singh.

A teetotaller, Ram Kishan’s two sons are studying engineering.