Migrant worker walking to Bihar crushed by truck on Delhi-Gurugram expressway

GURUGRAM: A 36-year-old migrant worker, who started his journey back home to Bihar’s Samastipur district — about 1,200 km away — on foot with his family, was run over by a truck near Jharsa flyover on the Delhi-Gurugram expressway on Wednesday night.
The man, who had been rendered jobless after the lockdown, had made several attempts to secure tickets for his family in a Shramik Special train, but was unable to do so, after which they decided to walk back home.
Vipin Singh, the deceased, had migrated to Gurugram about 15 months ago in search of a better life. He soon began work at a manufacturing unit in Udyog Vihar, rented a house in Sirhaul and brought his wife and two children to stay with him. The family had only just started to settle down in the city when the announcement of the lockdown in March dashed their dreams. The manufacturing sector was among several hit, and Vipin lost his job. For more than a month, the family, struggling to pay rent and cover other expenses, managed to survive, hoping that the crisis would be temporary and would pass soon.
On Tuesday, when Vipin saw news about the next round of lockdown, he decided to move back to Bihar but couldn’t book any berths in the Shramik Special. The next day, he and his family — wife, two children and younger brother Pushpender — packed their bags and, at night, started a long and arduous journey to avoid the daytime heat. They wanted to travel through the Kundli–Manesar–Palwal (KMP) Expressway and stay clear of the Delhi-Gurugram border.
Around 8.30pm, when the group had covered about 10km, tragedy struck.
“We were walking together and Vipin was little ahead. A speeding truck coming from the Delhi side hit him, after which he fell on the ground. The truck driver lost control and he hit another truck too,” Pushpender (32) said, adding that the driver fled the spot.
Commuters alerted police, after which a patrol unit arrived. Vipin was taken to Civil Hospital in Sector 10, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Pushpender told TOI that he had been working in another manufacturing unit in Gurugram for the past few years, and had helped Vipin get the job in Udyog Vihar.
“Due to the lockdown, our units were closed and we become jobless. Some of the units have started operations but due to social distancing norms, very few have got work,” Pushpender said.
Vipin’s wife, he added, had been inconsolable. “She is only repeating, ‘what will I do? Who will take care of my children?’”
ASI Praveen Kumar, from Sector 40 police station, said a case had been registered against the truck driver under IPC sections 279 (rash and negligent driving) and section 304A (death in accident). He added that police were trying to trace the vehicle with the help of the registration number given by the complainant.