In Delhi, 61-year-old businessman dies after scooter hits pothole

PWD employees cover the pothole, where the businessman died, near Civil Lines, Friday. Amit Mehra

A 61-year-old businessman died after the scooter he was riding lost balance after allegedly hitting a pothole in north Delhi’s Civil Lines Wednesday. According to police, the man fell to the ground, suffering fatal injuries. Eyewitnesses said an auto driver, who was right behind the man, stopped, shielded him from the traffic and rushed him to Shushruta Trauma Centre, where he succumbed during treatment.

Police said they received a PCR call 10 minutes after the incident. “A team was dispatched to the accident site. After reaching, they found out that the victim had already been transferred to the trauma centre. By the time police reached the hospital, he had already died. We then contacted his family,” said a senior police officer.

According to police, the victim, Jagdish Sukhija, ran an electronics store in Lajpat Nagar and was a resident of Rohini Sector 16. Sukhija’s son, Rahul, told The Indian Express, “I got to know about the accident when police called us at 7 pm. We had already left for the trauma centre, when we got to know that he had died.”

“If this happens in Delhi then I do not know how bad the condition is in the country’s rural areas. If the road would have been made properly, my father would have been alive,” he said.

Police said Sukhija was returning from Kashmere Gate when the incident took place near Metcalfe House on Ring Road.

Madan Yadav, who runs an eatery near the accident site, said, “I was attending to some customers when I heard a loud screech and saw a man had fallen from his scooter. There was an auto driver right behind him. He stopped his vehicle and tried to shield him from the incoming traffic.”

Eyewitnesses said people gathered at the spot, slowing down traffic. “The auto driver took him to hospital. It took 15 minutes for traffic to return to normal,” said Divyesh, an eyewitness.

Police said it is difficult to reconstruct the sequence of events as there is no CCTV footage and that they will have to rely on eyewitness statement. On Friday morning, PWD officials had covered the pothole and said they were looking into the incident.