Valmiki was declared dead when taken to Kailash Hospital in Noida, the police today said.
The incident took place around 8 pm on Sunday.
“We got off the auto (registration number UP16M9439) near Alka cinema,” Vicky said today. “My brother paid Rs 10, instead of Rs 12 that the driver claimed was the fare, and said he did not have the two-rupee change. The driver immediately got into a rage and, before I could do anything, hit my brother on the head with an iron rod and then ran the auto over him.”
Vicky, who suffers from physical disability that restricts his movement, said he “could not help my brother” even as the accused fled the spot.
“They had gone to a relative’s place in Khoda village and were on way back home (in Sector 15, Noida) when the incident occurred,” said one of the relatives who went to Sector-20 Police Station on Monday seeking prompt action in the case.
No arrest has been made yet. “We are interrogating the auto-rickshaw owner; we have been unable to track down the driver,” Station Officer (SO) Sector-20 Jagbir Singh Malik said. “But even the auto-owner has no details of the driver; he claims he had hired this particular driver just three days ago.”
But Noida’s SP (City) Ashok Tripathi said the auto-rickshaw driver had taken the victim to the hospital. “The driver is absconding and we are waiting for the postmortem report to get a clear picture,” Tripathi said.