Road rage again: Auto driver killed for scraping an Innova

Express news service : New Delhi, Sat Mar 24 2012, 02:19 hrs

In an alleged incident of road rage in Outer Delhi’s Vijay Vihar area, a 42-year-old autorickshaw driver was stoned to death by two men, allegedly under the influence of alcohol, after his auto scraped the Innova they were travelling in early Friday morning. The TSR hit the Innova from the rear, damaging its right tail lamp, police said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) BS Jaiswal said, “The two men, Rahul and Vinod Kumar, both in the age group of 20-25, were arrested. They were under the influence of alcohol and they abused Rajesh, the auto driver, before stoning him to death.”
According to police, Rajesh, a resident of Budh Vihar, was on his way home when his autorickshaw hit the Innova near a petrol pump in Vijay Vihar. “Vinod had borrowed the Innova from his employer, who runs a travel agency in Paharganj, on the pretext of taking it out for his son’s birthday,” said a police officer. However, Vinod took the car to Rahul’s house in Budh Vihar and both decided to go for a drive, police said.
“The two were drinking in the car and had reached the HP petrol pump, when Vinod felt nauseous and stopped the car suddenly. Rajesh’s autorickshaw was right behind the Innova. He didn’t anticipate that the car ahead would stop suddenly. The autorickshaw hit the Innova’s right tail lamp,” said the officer.
According to police, Rajesh, who didn’t realise the damage done to the car, tried overtaking it from the right. But the two men made him stop, police said. “Both sides began abusing each other, following which the duo picked up bricks lying nearby and hit Rajesh on the head killing him on the spot,” the officer said.



Mohd Salim, 54, who witnessed the incident, informed police. In his statement to police, Salim said, “I heard a man screaming and ran out to find two men hitting another with bricks. I tried intervening. The two men fled. I tried chasing them... but they managed to flee.”
Police found the abandoned Innova car with liquor bottles and glasses inside. The team also recovered a visiting card from the car through which they contacted the owner of the tour and travel company. They then took Vinod’s cellphone number and began a hunt for him. Vinod was apprehended from Bahadurgarh. Rahul was arrested from near the Rithala Metro station.
A case of murder has been registered at the Vijay Vihar police station.