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A vegetable vendor lost both legs on Friday night after he was struck by a train while allegedly trying to collect his belongings from a railway track, dropped by police, in the Kalyanpur area of Kanpur. Police were reportedly clearing spaces illegally occupied by street vendors there.
Kanpur vendor loses both legs
Police were reportedly clearing up encroachments, mostly occupied by vegetable vendors, near a railway station in Kanpur.
Eyewitnesses said Arsalan, a resident of Sahib Nagar in the Kalyanpur area of Kanpur, was selling vegetables on the side of GT road when two police officers approached him. According to eyewitnesses, the two beat Arsalan, after which Police Chief Rakesh threw his scales onto the tracks.
The incident happened at the Kalyanpur railway station in Kanpur when the local police were trying to evict the squatters from the land along the railway on the big main road. A police chief identified as Rakesh Kumar overturned Aslam's tomato cart on the road. He did the same with the others.
Desperate, Aslam tried to salvage whatever he could. As he was hand-picking his tomatoes from the track, he passed a local train and struck it, cutting off both of its legs.
Police had thrown his scales
Kanpur Police Chief Vijay Dhull took to social media to describe the follow-up action. He said police have suspended police chief Rakesh Kumar and ordered an investigation into the incident. He took to social media to describe the incident and the police action:
A Hindustan Times report quoted an eyewitness as saying police had thrown his scales, weights and vegetables onto the railway tracks; when the seller was picking them up he was hit by a train.
The witness added that two police officers left the scene immediately without attending to the injured vendor, while others arrived after the control room was informed.
Meanwhile, West Additional DCP Lakhan Yadav said that Irfan alias Laddoo was selling vegetables near the railway tracks and his scale fell on the tracks as he was rushing to vacate the space when the police arrived. Yadav added that he has been hospitalized and is undergoing treatment.
He said that Aslam (also identified as Irfan) will receive the best medical help. He also asked members of the public to share their videos of the incident on their mobile phones with the police to help them understand the sequence of the tragic incident.
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