A head constable has written to Delhi Police commissioner Rakesh Asthana urging him to take steps towards road safety and ensure that police personnel follow traffic rules. Sandeep Kumar who is currently posted at the Patel Nagar police station of the Central district, said he had learnt through an RTI that 228 Delhi Police personnel from various units up to the rank of ACP were killed in road accidents from 2010 to 2021.??Kumar also mentioned that he has been injured twice in road accidents at Daryganj and Moti Nagar and since then has been involved in raising awareness about road safety and use of helmets.

"It is requested that important steps should be taken so that police personnel adhere to traffic rules and everyone remains safe and following the ideals of Shanti, sewage and nyay, we can fulfil our responsibilities and make Delhi a pleasant place," Kumar said in Hindi. Claiming that the numbers of police personnel who died in accidents is more than those killed by terrorists or by criminals, Kumar in the letter written earlier this month, said the majority of those who died were constables. The policeman also cited a 2021 order by the then special commissioner of police, Traffic, Mukesh Chander, flagging violations of traffic rules by police personnel.?

The order had threatened departmental action against police personnel found violating guidelines. It had said 41 police personnel were killed in road accidents in 2020. Referring to the data received by him through an RTI between January and March this year, 233 people were killed in road accidents and 983 were injured. Last year, 1,239 people lost their lives in road accidents, including policemen.??In 2018, a 55-year-old constable was killed after his motorcycle was hit by a truck in Model Town. In 2021, ?a woman?constable lost her life after her two-wheeler was hit by another vehicle in northwest Delhi's Maurya Enclave while she was returning home after night duty, police said.

(With PTI Inputs)