E-rickshaw driver lynching: PM Modi announces Rs 1 lakh ex-gratia

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday condemned the lynching of Delhi e-rickshaw driver for advocating the social cause of Swachh Bharat, asking the concerned officials to take strict action against the culprits.

He also announced an ex-gratia relief amount of Rs one lakh to the kin of the victim's family.

The Prime Minister, who is on a four nation tour, sanctioned the money from the Prime Minister's National Relief fund to the next of kin of the E-rickshaw driver Ravindra Kumar, who was beaten to death for stopping two people from urinating in the public in Delhi.

Apart from this, Delhi government also announced a compensation amount of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of the lynched e-rickshaw driver. The amount will be paid from Lt. Governor/Chief Minister Relief Fund, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said.

Earlier in the day Urban Development and Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu visited the family of the e-rickshaw driver at GTB Nagar and handed over a cheque of Rs 50,000 from his salary to the family. Terming the act as condemnable, Naidu said that the culprits must be punished.

On the investigative front, Delhi Police has set up five teams to search for the accused in lynching of the e-rickshaw driver here and are looking for suspects from among 300 students of School of Open Learning (SOL) whose examination centre was located in Delhi Univsersity's Kirori Mal College, claimed an official.

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Police said 300 students of SOL had come on Saturday to visit their examination center at KMC as well as regular students in the varsity's North Campus. Two of the youths who were indulged in altercation with Ravinder Kumar over having alcohol and urinating at metro station, which was captured in a CCTV footage, had been dropped at the college by Manoj, another e-rickshaw driver.

"We are questioning over dozens of youths and locals. We are examining the records of over 900 students who are often active in protests, elections and other university activities to identify the accused persons. We have suspected some youths but police teams are still investigation the case with all possible angles," a senior police officer said.

The incident occurred on Saturday evening at around 8.30 p.m. when Kumar, objected to two students who he found were drinking alcohol and urinating on a wall near GTB Nagar Metro Station.

The angry youths returned along with 15 of their friends. They began raining blows on Kumar for at least 20 minutes at the crowded station, but no one from the public came forward to rescue him. Kumar died on the spot.

The brutal killing of the e-rickshaw driver has sparked a controversy as police has not yet been able to arrest a single accused. People are expressing their anger on the issue over social platforms.