1 day Ago By Chithaluri Revanth
HYDERABAD: A 34-year-old man died in Hyderabad on Sunday after he fell from his two-wheeler during a traffic police check and was run over by a TGSRTC bus from the Medak depot. Joshi Babu, the deceased, was a carpenter by profession. He is survived by his wife and two young children, aged four and five.
Balanagar police have registered a case against Gopal, a traffic constable. According to the complaint filed by his brother, Naga Phanindra, Babu was on his way to Panjagutta on his bike when traffic police stopped him near the IDPL Township main gate. Police claimed that Babu attempted to flee, collided with another bike and fell.
However, Babu’s brother alleged that the constable may have been under the influence of liquor. “When we questioned higher officials, they simply said they would look into it,” he said. Protests erupted in the area as locals, commuters and relatives of the deceased gathered, accusing the police of negligence.
Police used canes to disperse the crowd, resulting in chaos and a massive traffic jam stretching several kilometres. Many locals blamed the police for their aggressive enforcement. “They are just doing monthly collections in the name of challans,” a friend of the deceased lamented.
Locals told that the spot where Babu was stopped is not usually a traffic checkpoint. While police said that Babu initially slowed down but then accelerated, hit another vehicle, and fell before being run over by the bus, some eyewitnesses alleged that a traffic constable grabbed his collar, causing him to lose balance and fall into the path of the bus. Speaking to the media, another friend of the deceased said he was travelling from Shapur to Balanagar.
“A cop stopped his vehicle and grabbed him by the collar. Babu then lost his balance and fell,” he alleged. “If this had happened to a celebrity, there would have been an immediate outcry.
But a common man dies, and no one cares. An eyewitness saw it all and told us what happened,” a person told reporters. “A common man was killed by a cop.
If it had been the other way around, the person would have been taken into custody immediately. If someone tries to flee, the police can always catch them elsewhere. But now, who is responsible for this death?” asked another local.
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