Bike's non-functional headlight, stray dog chase leads to man's death in Delhi

New Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) A late-night search for a drunk relative turned tragic in southeast Delhi's Jaitpur Pushta area when a 20-year-old man died after his motorcycle, with a non-functional headlight, crashed into a ditch while being chased by a pack of stray dogs.

Tushar Kumar (20), a compounder at a pharmacy, died while his friend Sudhakar Singh (29), a pharmacist, who was riding pillion on the motorcycle, sustained injuries when their motorcycle fell into a ditch after they were chased by a pack of stray dogs on January 10, police said.

"It was around 10 pm, when we started looking for my maternal uncle's son Uddham, who had left his house in a drunken condition following a dispute," Singh told PTI.

As Uddham frequently visited Madanpur area, we launched our search from there, he said, adding that while returning through a colony, the bike's headlight was not working and visibility was poor, a pack of stray dogs surrounded our vehicle.

For a better visibility, Singh turned on his mobile phone's flashlight, and Tushar accelerated to escape but failed to notice a ditch around 1.5 feet deep near the road.

According to Singh, Tushar lost control over the motorcycle and they fell into the ditch. Tushar suffered a serious head injury after hitting the front portion of the vehicle and started bleeding profusely.

He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead, Singh said.

Singh added that he also sustained injuries and was later admitted to Moti Nagar Hospital, where doctors found a ligament tear in his hand.

The incident took a disturbing turn as family members of the deceased allegedly assaulted Singh, holding him responsible for Tushar's death.

He claimed that Tushar's brother allegedly assaulted him and he was later rescued by his maternal uncle, who reached the spot after he made a call to him.

According to the police, they received a PCR call about the incident and a team was immediately rushed to the spot.

"We have recorded the statement of the victim. According to him, they were searching one of his relative, when they were chased by dogs," the police officer said.

He further said that they are checking CCTV footage of the entire incident to reconstruct the entire incident and to understand better that what had happened.

The police registered a case on January 11 based on Singh's statement and said a detailed investigation is underway. PTI COR BM NB