Lucknow: A 17-year-old street vendor lost one of his legs and badly injured the other one as he was run over by a train when he tried to pick up his weighing scales that were allegedly thrown on the railway track by a Kanpur policeman, who was clearing a nearby footpath of encroachment.
The teenager, Arsalan Khan alias Laddu, had to be dragged away from the track by locals and a policeman after his brother saw him writhing in pain and crying for help.
According to family members of the teenager, the incident took place around 4 pm Friday when Arsalan was selling vegetables from his cart on a footpath abutting the railway line in Kanpur’s Kalyanpur area.
Speaking to media persons at the scene, an eye witness, identified as Mohammed Shanu, said that Arsalan was selling tomatoes on the cart when the policeman Rakesh Kumar arrived and threw his scales on the railway track. “Sub-inspector Shahdab Khan who is the station in charge of Indira Nagar police chowki was also there at the spot. Arsalan went to the crossing to pick up the scales and was hit by the train,” he said.
Arsalan’s elder brother, Kadeem Khan, said that both he and his brother sell vegetables. “I usually place my cart near the Bagiya crossing while Arsalan places his cart on the footpath abutting the Kalyanpur crossing. Police usually ask people not to place their carts on the footpath to avoid traffic problems,” he told ThePrint.
He claimed that two policemen arrived and told the vendors to leave the spot. “The head constable Rakesh Kumar was new and he angrily threw the weighing scales onto the railway track,” he alleged.
The head constable has been suspended, according to Kanpur’s DCP (west) Vijay Dhull.
“I don’t know what was going through his mind, whether he was in a state of confusion. I was told by onlookers that he was hit by the train when he went to pick up the scales. When I reached the spot, I saw my brother writhing in pain and I asked people to help him. That’s when some vendors and a policeman arrived and helped pick him up. His right leg was dismembered from the thigh and was completely crushed. There is damage to his left leg as well but the bone is intact and hopefully, it can be saved,” said Khan.
Khan said he arrived at the scene 10-15 minutes after the incident had taken place. He claimed that onlookers and police didn’t help his brother until he reached the location and started crying for help.
Shocker from Kanpur !
Policemen threw away a street vendor Irfan's articles on railway tracks in Kalyanpur.
He was hit by Memu train while picking them back. He has lost both his legs.
Police were clearing sides of GT Road of vendors selling vegetables, and other goods. pic.twitter.com/gbzY71rLg2
— Haidar Naqvi🇮🇳 (@haidarpur) December 2, 2022
Soon after the incident, locals along with police took the teenager to Kanpur’s Lala Lajpat Rai hospital. However, he was referred to the Apex trauma centre of Lucknow’s Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences.
“He has undergone surgery and is in the ICU now,” Arsalan’s mother Fatima told ThePrint.
Arsalan is the third of six children. Fatima said that her husband Saleem is a drunkard and is estranged from her.
Kanpur’s DCP (west) Vijay Dhull said in a statement that upon hearing about the incident, senior police officers reached the hospital and spoke to family members of the teenager and were assured of free treatment at the best possible medical facility.
“In connection with the incident, prima facie, investigation shows that the Kalyanpur police was removing encroachment at the local level during which head constable Rakesh Kumar indulged in negligent behaviour due to which this situation cropped up and Arsalan was hit by the train. He has been immediately suspended and the circle officer (Kalyanpur) has been tasked with a probe into the case. Several people present at the spot have made videos of the incident which are being sourced by the police to know about the sequence of events,” he said.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)
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