Truck Kills Cyclist on Dwarka Expressway

GURUGRAM: A 48-year-old security guard was killed after a truck allegedly travelling on the wrong side hit him on the Dwarka Expressway service road near Sector 109 late Sunday night, with police saying the driver then reversed over the cyclist while trying to flee before abandoning the vehicle.

Police identified the victim as Vinod Shukla, a native of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh who lived in Bijwasan, Delhi, and worked as a security guard in Gurugram. Officers said he was cycling to his workplace when the collision occurred around 11.45 pm on Sunday. A police officer said a truck speeding from the wrong direction struck Shukla, trapping him beneath the wheels, and that the driver, while attempting to escape, put the vehicle in reverse and ran over him again, dragging the body for several feet.

According to the same account, Shukla's body was badly damaged during the sequence. The driver then left the truck with its engine running, jumped from the cabin and fled on foot, police said. Commuters alerted the police control room. Sandeep Turan, public relations officer of Gurugram Police, said officers found the truck running with keys in the ignition and seized it. Shukla's identity card recovered from his pocket helped establish who he was.

Turan said Shukla's family reached the city on Monday night. On the basis of their complaint, an FIR was to be registered at Bajghera police station on Tuesday, after which the body would be handed over following autopsy formalities. Investigators are treating the matter as a hit-and-run with alleged wrong-side driving on a busy service lane that carries night traffic linked to workplaces along the Dwarka Expressway corridor.

Wrong-side movement on service roads has repeatedly figured in fatal cases involving pedestrians and cyclists in the city's western sectors. Sector 109 and Bajghera sit on a stretch where construction traffic, night-shift workers and local two-wheelers share limited carriageway space. Police said the abandoned truck and ignition keys left at the scene will form part of the forensic and technical trail to identify the driver.

Family members are expected to give a detailed statement when the Bajghera case is formally registered. Until then, police have limited public comment to the recovery of the vehicle, the identity documents on the victim, and the sequence described by the first responding team. Allegations about how the truck was driven and how the driver fled remain under investigation and have not been tested in court.

The case adds to a run of night-time cycling deaths reported from Gurugram's expressway service lanes this month. Officers said CCTV coverage along the corridor, toll and weighbridge camera feeds where available, and witness accounts from commuters who dialled the control room will be examined once the FIR is on record. No arrest had been announced when Turan briefed reporters on Monday.