A 45-year-old man died on his way to hospital when a traffic warden stopped his car for violating a traffic signal near New Anarkali on Thursday. The victim was identified as Falak Sher, a resident of Mandi Bahauddin. According to details, Falak was a heart and kidney patient.
On Thursday, he was in a critical condition on which his brother Nawaz along with his cousin hired a taxi and was taking him to Mayo Hospital. As they reached near New Anarkali on Mall Road, Traffic Warden Asif stopped them for violating a traffic signal. Nawaz and his cousin requested the warden to let them go as Falak’s condition was critical but Asif did not listen and stopped them for about half an hour.
He allowed them to go after issuing a fine ticket to them. When they reached Mayo Hospital, Falak was almost unconscious and doctors tried to save him but he left for eternal adobe. After seeing Falak’s death, Nawaz and his cousin became angry and immediately reached the place where the traffic warden had fined them. Nawaz, his cousin and others started thrashing Asif after blaming him for Falak’s death.
They also held a protest after placing the deceased’s body on the road. Protestors chanted slogans against the city traffic police. Heavy contingents of local and traffic police reached the spot and shifted Asif to another place in order to save him. Talking to journalists, Nawaz said that according to doctors, they could have saved Falak’s life if they had brought him only 10 minutes early.
He said that Asif was responsible for his brother’s death because he forced them to stop for more than half an hour. He said that they had requested the warden several times to let them go and told him about Falak’s critical condition but Asif was hell bent on stopping them and even collected Rs 300. Local residents also blamed the traffic warden for Falak’s death. A local shopkeeper told journalists that this was not the first time that wardens have teased people.
He said that it usually happens that wardens stop only those vehicles in which they see people from other cities. “We have witnessed on several occasions that wardens only stop those private vehicles which they believe have reached the city from other cities and have patients inside”, shopkeeper Atif said. After knowing about the mishap, Lahore City Traffic Officer Captain (r) Mobin also reached the spot and suspended Asif and ordered an inquiry against him under supervision of the Headquarters superintendent of police (SP).
He told journalists Asif stopped a car bearing registration number LED-7658 for violating traffic signals. Mobin claimed that Asif collected Rs 300 from the victims against a challan. He said that during inquiry, if it was established that the warden was guilty, he would be punished and a case will be registered against him. Asif refused to accept negligence and claimed that he allowed the car to go after issuing a fine ticket to the driver for violating a traffic signal. The warden said that he thought he was being cheated by the passengers.
Duty dearer than humanity
