Noida: A 26-year-old truck driver who was shot in the head by a Fortuner driver in a road rage incident in Sector 63, Noida, on April 18 died early Sunday morning while undergoing treatment at a hospital, police said.
Police identified the deceased as Lalu Prasad, a resident of Budaun.
“Lalu, who sustained a gunshot injury to the right side of his temple, was in the ICU for the last 9 days. Doctors had told us that chance of his recovery is very low. We were hoping for his recovery. But early Sunday morning he succumbed to his injuries. He was motionless since being admitted,” said Surjeet (single name), 32, who was in another truck behind Prasad’s when the incident took place.
Lalu was the sole breadwinner in the family and his survived by his mother, wife, and 4-year-old son, he added.
“We have arrested the prime suspect Vikas Kumar, 47, originally from Bulandshahr who runs milk business in Jaipur and resides in Sector 71, Noida, and co-passenger Lalit Kumar, 42, from Ambedkar Nagar following the incident. On Surjeet’s complaint, a case under BNS sectionsfor attempt to murder, criminal intimidation and intentional insult was registered at Sector 63 police station. Now we are adding murder section in the case,” said station house officer (Sector 63) Avdhesh Pratap Singh.
“On April 18, I and my fellow truck driver, Prasad, had come to load snacks in two separate trucks at a factory in Sector 67 and stopped at a fuel pump for diesel. Around 2am, a Toyota Fortuner was parked in the middle of the road. When Prasad honked for a way, the SUV driver got angry and verbally abused him,” said Surjeet.
“Later, he (SUV driver) asked us to reverse the trucks but moved his vehicle close to the Prasad’s driver-side window. When honked again, he was irked and shot at Prasad,” he added.
An investigation found that Kumar and his worker Lalit had consumed alcohol in Ghaziabad before they heading towards Noida. When they parked their car near a restaurant in Sector 63, Prasad honked three to four times to ask for way, which triggered the fight. Kumar told police that he fired in the air, but the bullet hit him.