Dead constable was family’s sole earner

The parents of constable Shafiuddin Yusufuddin Kazi, 23, who died when a tanker hit a police van at Andheri (East) on Tuesday, were planning to get him married. Kazi had joined the police force in July 2010, and was the only earning member of his family living in Ahmadpur, Latur.

The parents of constable Shafiuddin Yusufuddin Kazi, 23, who died when a tanker hit a police van at Andheri (East) on Tuesday, were planning to get him married. Kazi had joined the police force in July 2010, and was the only earning member of his family living in Ahmadpur, Latur.

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“His parents were looking for a bride for him. We don’t know how to tell them about his untimely death,” said Indrajeet Kamble, his roommate at the police quarters in Marol, where he had been staying for a year. His colleagues remembered him as a diligent worker.

Kazi’s colleagues who were in police van said he was seated at the rear end of the vehicle.

“If he wasn’t sitting there, he might have been alive,” said a police constable who was in the van with him.

Kazi was brought dead to Coopher Hospital, Vile Parle, at 1.50am on Tuesday. According to the autopsy report, Kazi died of subdural haemorrhage, or collection of blood in the brain, and a cardio respiratory arrest.

According to doctors at Cooper, eight patients admitted to the hospital were “stable”, and the others did not need hospitalisation as they had minor injuries. Of the eight, Satish Mahajan, 32, suffered multiple cuts on his face.

“Glass shards pierced his cheeks and forehead. His entire face is distorted,” said his aunt, Shobha.

Doctors at the hospital were surprised that none of the patients suffered fractures, a common injury in such accidents.

“As there were so many people in the van, many of the injured had relatively fewer injuries on their bodies,” said a senior doctor at the hospital.