Bhopal’s Piplani police under fire again:Cops face allegations of negligence in probing road accident death case; SHO denies claims

Days after two police constables from Bhopal’s Piplani police station had beaten Udit Gayaki, the brother-in-law of a DSP to death, and had stirred a controversy, trouble has again surrounded the Piplani police. This time, the family of a chef, who died in a road accident, has accused the police of failing to inform them about his death for three days, despite having his scooter, mobile phone, and identity documents in custody. The deceased, Ram Bahadur (55), used to work as a chef at a restaurant in Ratnagiri area, and was a resident of Jheel Nagar, falling under the jurisdiction of the Ayodhya Nagar police station. Accident unfolded on intervening night of October 19-20, 2025 Ram Bahadur’s brother, Neemkant Bahadur told Bhaskar English that the accident occurred on the intervening night of October 19- 20, 2025, when his brother was returning home from work on his moped. Near Ratnagiri, another two-wheeler coming from the opposite direction hit his scooter head-on, resulting in his death on the spot. An ambulance took him to the hospital, where doctors declared him dead. The Piplani Police seized the scooter from the accident site and sent the unidentified body to Gandhi Medical College mortuary for preservation, Neemkant claimed. Kin say Ram’s cell phone, ID card found in moped’s storage compartment The family alleged that Ram Bahadur’s mobile phone and Aadhaar card were inside the moped’s storage compartment, and the keys were with the police, yet the cops did not even care to check the vehicle. They claimed that Ram’s mobile phone remained switched on, and even showed multiple missed calls from family members, but police ignored it. They also said that the scooter was registered at their home address, but despite this, no effort was made to contact them earlier. The delay allegedly caused the body to decompose, as the post-mortem was conducted only after identification on Thursday. Family learnt about Ram’s death while filing missing complaint Ram Bahadur’s son, Satish said the family thought his father had stayed overnight at the restaurant, as he often did during festive rush. When he did not return even after Diwali, they contacted his workplace and learned that he had left for home on October 19. On October 22, while they were about to file a missing person’s report, the Piplani Police arrived and informed them about his death, three days after the accident. Piplani police station house officer denies allegations Piplani police station house officer (SHO) Chandrika Yadav, when contacted by Bhaskar English for his version, denied negligence, saying that no identification document was found near the body. “Our team showed photographs across nearby areas to ascertain Ram Bahadur’s identity. Once the family was traced, a post-mortem was conducted and further legal procedures are underway,” he added.