Last week was very sad for the Delhi Police. Four of their constables lost their lives within a gap of four days in different road accidents. Constable Dharmendra was posted in Old Police Lines was coming from trans Yamuna bridge and was going towards Boulevard Road near ISBT on his motorcycle at around 7 am when he met with an accident on January 23 and succumbed to injuries.

On the same day at 8 pm Darshan Singh met with an accident at around 8 pm at Bamrauli Road near Nizampur Border. He was patrolling in the area and was posted at Police Station, Kanjhawala when an unknown vehicle hit his motorcycle. He too died on the spot.

On January 24, Constable Surinder, a rider with Delhi Traffic Police Sadar Bazaar Circle was going to take mail at Teen Murti Traffic Police Lines around 12 midnight. His front tyre of the motorcycle entered a pothole about one-and-a-half feet deep at Chitra Gupta Road and he lost his balance and met with an accident. After battling for life in hospital, he too died on January 26. Poor man, I am told that the pothole too was in the middle of the road.

On January 26, Constable Bani Singh posted at Police Station Mandawli and constable Avdesh (Police Station Parliament Street) were riding on the outer Ring Road and were supposed to report for Republic Day duty in the morning. But an unknown vehicle too hit them at around 4 am on the Outer Ring Road at Gandhi Vihar near Gopalpur. Avdesh was admitted in ICU in serious condition while Bani Singh succumbed to injuries.

I don’t know whether all were wearing helmets or not but I think something should be done to keep a check on the number of accidents at night. Road engineering can be blamed too as visibility is less on most of the roads at night.

Another thing is the Delhi Police should inculcate habit of obeying traffic rules among their junior constabulary. Most of the constables while riding a bike don’t wear helmets.

Such deaths can also be saved if housing problem of these constables can be solved. One of a senior police official told me that lot of constables stay in Nathupura as accommodation there is cheap. Just think about the fact that Avdesh, who is posted in Parliament Street Police Station, lives in Nathupura, which is so far away. I think the bosses really need to give it a serious thought in order to save their lower constabulary from such mishaps.