Cyclist’s death: Slow pace of probe forces kin to play cop

Chandigarh: While an unsolved hit-and-run case, in which a cyclist died on December 25, may be just another case for the UT police, for the deceased’s family members, the trauma continues as left with no option, they have decided to “investigate the case” on their own.

Amit Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 11

While an unsolved hit-and-run case, in which a cyclist died on December 25, may be just another case for the UT police, for the deceased’s family members, the trauma continues as left with no option, they have decided to “investigate the case” on their own.

Under the RTI Act, the deceased’s family has procured the CCTV footage of cameras installed at the Faidan barrier and has started a hunt for the truck that hit the cycle.

The victim, Mangal Singh, a resident of Phase XI, Mohali, was on his way to Ram Darbar where he worked at a factory when a truck hit him at the Faidan barrier near Sector 48. The truck driver fled from the spot. A case was registered in this regard.

The victim’s elder brother, Mahinder Singh, said they waited for a few days for the police to track down the truck driver. However, soon they got dejected with the slow pace of the investigation and realised that they would have to take an initiative on their own to trace the truck driver.

“We procured the CCTV footage of the barrier, which shows a yellow and white truck of a cement plant hitting my brother and speeding off,” Mahinder said.

For several days, Mahinder and his family members spent hours at the accident spot looking for the truck seen in the CCTV footage. “Since the registration number of the truck was not visible in the footage, we are having a tough time in identifying the truck,” said victim’s nephew Tarandeep Singh. In the past one month, the victim’s family has been looking for cement plants on the periphery. “With the help of the colour of the truck involved in the accident, we have identified a cement plant in Mohali that own trucks of the same colour,” said Mahinder.

The victim’s kin said they had contacted the manager of the cement plant, who claimed that the trucks of that particular make had been sold by them.

The victim’s family feels the UT police can help track down the driver. “We don’t have the authority to question people. We are making all possible efforts to trace the truck driver,” Mahinder said.