A businessman runs over a head-constable before dragging him 300 metres while another hits senior citizen on cycle

Mumbai isn't alone on a high

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Mumbai isn't alone on a high

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A businessman runs over a head-constable before dragging him 300 metres while another hits senior citizen on cycle

While television channels were beaming pictures of Nooriya Haveliwala, two businessmen in Delhi were following

on her heels.

Head-constable Jaipal Singh was on night duty at the traffic signal near the Ritchie Rich hotel when he saw an over-speeding car jumping the red-light signal. The head-constable cautioned the car to stop but Manoj Kumar, who was behind the wheels, had no plans to put on the brakes. The car hit the cop throwing him on to the bonnet of the car. Manoj sped on.

Singh held on to the viper of the windscreen crying for help but Manoj did not heed to his distress calls. The businessman, who was on his way to Kirti Nagar from Pitampura, finally put the brakes after dragging the cop to about 300 meters. Singh was thrown on the road and came under the wheels of the car. Even then Manoj did not stop and tried to flee from the scene.

However, other police officials who were present on the traffic signal along with Singh had by then called up the PCR van. The police van arrested Manoj after giving him a short chase. "We have booked Manoj under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal code," said a police official.u00a0 Singh was rushed to a nearby hospital where his condition is stated to be critical.

Drunken rage
Same night, some time later towards the early hours of Sunday morning, Sheetal u2013 a vegetable vendor at Pandara road u2013 was on his way to his shop on a bicycle when a car hit him from behind.

Sumit Mittal, owner of a garment company, was in the car that hit the 60-year-old vegetable vendor. Mittal, who was driving in an inebriated condition, could not control the car and rammed into an electric pole. While Sheetal succumbed to serious injuries later, Mittal was also wounded in the accident that occurred near gate no. 1 of the Patiala House court.

Police said Mittal is a resident of Khirki village in Malviya Nagar and hails from Haryana. "He was under the influence of alcohol. A medical test has confirmed that and he was placed under arrest and his car Hyundai i10 bearing registration number HR 26 AP 4826 has been seized," a police official said.

Vital stats

Even though Delhi witnessed a drop in the total number of accidents in 2009 as compared to 2008, cases of fatal accidents and drunken driving increased during the same period. In 2008, the number of tickets issued for drunken driving, dangerous driving and overspeeding were 7,579, 132,467 and 183,544 respectively. For 2009, the figures were 12,109 (60 percent increase), 236,671 (79 percent increase) and 212,287 (16 percent increase) respectively.