Delhi: Truck driver gets 5 years jail for trying to kill traffic cops

New Delhi: Every citizen is supposed to respect the law of the land and follow directions of public servants, a Delhi court has said while sentencing a man to five years in jail for attempting to crush traffic policemen on duty under his truck when they tried to stop him.

Additional Sessions Judge Raj Kumar Tripathi awarded the sentence to Asab, who was coming to Delhi from Noida through DND expressway at the time of the incident, while observing that he tried to run his sand-loaded truck over four police officials injuring one of them and did not deserve leniency.

"Except one cop, no other police official suffered injury in the case. Every citizen is supposed to respect the law of the land and follow the directions of the public servants...

"The convict who was coming from Noida side to Delhi, was given signal to stop by the police officials. He initially stopped his truck at the barricade, but thereafter accelerated the speed of his truck to flee away. His act of not obeying directions of the police officials and deterring them from discharging their duties as public servants does not call for any leniency," the judge said, while also imposing a fine of Rs 6,000 on the convict.

"I have considered the family circumstances of convict...No justification can be given for not obeying the directions of the public servants. In the case in hand, the convict not only disobeyed the directions of police officials but also tried to run over his truck upon them, who were in police uniform and were on duty," the judge said.

According to prosecution, on January 29, 2013 at around 10 pm near DND Flyover, Asab voluntarily obstructed Head Constable Ravinder, Assistant Sub-Inspector Ram Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police Prem Nath and Joint CP Satyender Garg, who were on duty and were discharging public functions, by not stopping his truck and speeding it away.

It said the convict assaulted the police officials by accelerating the speed of the truck, while the policemen were standing before it asking him to stop.

The court also observed "Prosecution has proved that the convict accelerated speed of his truck with such intention or knowledge that his truck may have run over the cops who were  standing in front of his truck and by the said act, if death of said police officials would have been caused, the convict would have been guilty of their murder."

The court held him guilty under sections 186 (Obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 352 (assault or criminal force otherwise than on grave provocation) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC.