CB BureauThat Umesh Kant Pandey died in a blaze of
last-minute front-page glory is beside the point. That he died a totally
useless death because of the careless impulse of a raving, thoughtless crook is
the point. The point is also that his death is unmourned. There is no statement
from society’s leading mouthpieces, no campaign that is going viral on social
media, no Tweets from celebrities, no Hazare to herd the mentality”there is the
silence of indifference. (In fact, the victim’s name itself is not clear, with
both Umesh Kant Pandey and Umesh Kumar Pandey in circulation.)
At the most, it might have evoked curiosity
and wonder. After all, the killing happened at the Delhi”Gurgaon expressway, by
no means the shady hinterland of a city where crime happens routinely and
brazenly. The 22-year-old Umesh Pandey was just a toll collector at the Kherki
Daula toll plaza doing his job. He only demanded that the driver of the white Bolero
jeep pay the toll of Rs 27. The latter said he was from a nearby village and
was not required to pay the toll. At this, Umesh asked him for documentary
proof. An altercation followed, which must have seemed a challenge to the
Bolero driver. He could not have thought much before shooting his verbal
opponent dead, firing through the cabin window.
Officials say CCTV footage of the incident
shows the assailant speeding away in a white Bolero jeep in the direction of
Manesar. The footage also shows the injured Umesh reaching for the cabin door
before collapsing on the floor. Surprisingly, the CCTV camera installed in the
cabin was positioned in such a way that the license plates of the Bolero could
not be caught.
Umesh Kant or Kumar paid with his life for
what he must have thought to be a routine part of his job. After all, commuters
are known to commonly claim VIP status to excuse themselves from paying the
toll. Some do it politely, most with disdain. Whatever, the ordinary toll
collector is always at the receiving end. There has been no police presence at
these facilities.
Five things are clear as a result of the
expressway murder: 1) some people are very frustrated and repressed, ready to
kill without notice; 2) some people do not like to pay toll even if they can
easily afford to pay (and they will bear any price not to pay) ; 3) instances
of verbal clashes are not a good-enough justification for maintaining police
personnel at high-traffic, highly sensitive commuter zones; 4) the VIP status
is up for grabs and can be claimed randomly; and 5) there exists a latent,
supernatural code of common lament whereby we (the middle class) know whose
death to mourn and whose to pass by, and which injustice to fight against and
which to ignore.
Even the social media”the great modern
social equalizer and upholder of causes and movements”can appear to be an
instrument of elitism at certain times. Without getting into any sort of
psychoanalysis of people’s behaviour on social media and networking platforms,
it must be largely true that most of us do and say what is expected of us and
our roles. If none of our peers and friends and the people we admire have
thought it important enough to mention or champion, why should I be any
different? There is some difference between status messaging ‘R.I.P. MF
Hussain’, ‘R.I.P. Nawab Pataudi’, or ‘R.I.P. Michael Jackson’ on the one hand,
and doing ‘R.I.P. Umesh Pandey’ on the other. Preposterous, most would exclaim.
One thing is for sure – the killing of
Umesh Pandey was waiting to happen. That it was Umesh Pandey and not another similarly
anonymous toll collector is a matter of one’s good luck and the other’s bad
luck. It must be mentioned that DS Constructions Ltd (DSCL), the agency in
charge of running the toll gate, has not deployed armed security guard on the
toll plaza yet.
Two days on, there is mixed hope that the
killer of Umesh Pandey will be apprehended. Crucial evidence is missing. While
the license plate could not be captured on camera due to the Bolero’s bright
headlight, senior police officers have also pointed out that the body of Umesh
Pandey was removed from the spot minutes after the incident, and that another
staffer took his place on the counter. Officers have claimed that DSCL made
several errors in judgement while handling the situation. The police have also
accused the agency of installing substandard CCTV cameras at the gate.
Umesh Pandey’s father Rajkishore Pandey,
70, is a marginal farmer. Umesh, who married just about six months back and
thus leaves behind an 18-year-old widow, was the first from his family who ventured
out of his native village, namely Baghoi in Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh. For
the sake of the remaining members of the family and for the sake of the idea of
justice, it is hoped that the pursuit of the killer will not be given up once
the front-page spotlight moves elsewhere.