Guard killed by car being chased by police

Ahmedabad: Within a week of a police sub-inspector being killed in Surendranagar district due to suspected bootleggers trying to escape, a police chase in the city led to the death of a 67-year-old man in Vejalpur.CCTV footage shows that at about 3pm on Saturday, Hasmukh Shah, a security guard, was on duty at Gokuldham Society in Vejalpur, when a white sedan entered the society at speed. Two men on a motorcycle, who said they were policemen, followed the car and asked Hasmukh about it. They ostensibly directed Hasmukh to close the society gate and began chasing the car on internal roads of the society, which were crowded with people, especially children playing.Following the instructions, Hasmukh closed one of the gates. While he was closing the other, the speeding car hit him and the gate. Hasmukh's son and the complainant, Niket Shah, said the policemen found the suspected car inside Gokuldham Society. "They told my father to close the gate and followed the car. The car driver made a U-turn inside the society, hit my father as he was closing the gate and fled," said Niket. Hasmukh was first admitted to a hospital in Jivraj Park, from where he was shifted to SVP Hospital, where he died in the early hours of Tuesday. TOI spoke to one of the policemen, constable Amit Narshibhai of Vejalpur police, who was chasing the "suspected car" on a motorcycle. "The work of police is to check anything that seems suspicious. The car seemed suspicious and as the driver saw us, he began speeding away. We followed him inside the society and asked the guard (Hasmukh) about him. The guard told us the car had entered the society, so we chased it," said Narshibhai, who was in plainclothes during the incident. He said the car driver quickly made a U-turn and was driving rashly when he hit the guard. "As the guard was injured, we did not chase the car and focused on getting treatment for the guard. My colleague and I got him admitted to hospital," said Narshibhai. He said police did not find the man who hit Hasmukh, nor did they know if he had any illegal items in the car. M Division traffic police inspector U B Dhakhada said a complaint for causing hurt by negligent driving under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was filed against the unknown man on Saturday. After Hasmukh's death, police would add charges of causing death by negligent driving, Dhakhada said, adding that the hunt for the accused is underway. On Nov 5, PSI J M Pathan was killed after being hit by a trailer suspected to be carrying liquor near Kathada village in Dasada taluka of Surendranagar. The accused in that case is also at large.
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