The widows of the three policemen who died were given pay orders of Rs 25,000 each. The two injured civilians were given a cash packet of Rs 20,000 each to help them bear the cost of medical treatment.

Presenting the cheques, chairperson of Artists for Empowerment, Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhary said: ``We are helping in our own small way. Constable Peeru Lal's children will also be covered by a life insurance policy of a lakh each. We will also extend the children's moneybag policy to the children of the other victims once we have more information about them.''

Mohammed Naseer, one of the civilians who died in the incident, was unmarried and his parents could not be traced. His local guardian Abdul Jabbar was given a cheque of Rs 5,000. DCP (South) Pradeep Srivastav accepted the cheque on behalf of Mohammad Gulab.

Inspector Jagdish Pandey, ``the real hero'' of the case, was awarded the Alert Cop of the Year award. The Rs 10,000 cheque was presented to him by Police Commissioner V.N. Singh. The award will be an annual affair.

Reciting a shloka, professor of classical music Rita Ganguly said it was sad that everyday one heard of victims who die in the hands of a few irresponsible people.

Speaking on the occasion V.N. Singh said: ``There are a number of deaths on the roads which are pointless and could have been prevented. Organisations need to propagate the need to follow rules and regulations. Moreover, each and every citizen should resolve to help any road accident victim if they ever come across them.''

The event was facilitated by the Coalition for Rural Empowerment and Indian Council for Rescue and Rehabilitation of Disaster Victims.