New Delhi : Delhi Police Constable Subhash Chand Tomar, who died here Tuesday morning, had his first brush with death 23 years ago when he was seriously injured in a bomb blast in a DTC bus in 1989 at Mall Road here.The fourth son of his parents, Tomar — who was from village Barauli in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat — overcame the trauma very soon.

His 22-year-old son Deepak told IANS: “Just two years after he joined Delhi Police in 1987, my father was seriously injured in the Mall Road DTC bus blast incident. He was severely injured.”

The 47-year-old constable died early Tuesday due to respiratory and cardiovascular problems sparked off by Sunday’s attack on him on a road leading to India Gate during protests against the brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old woman Dec 16 night in a moving bus in south Delhi.

He was rushed to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital by his colleagues, but was declared dead Tuesday around 6.40 a.m.

“He was my guide. His sincerity to his job used to inspire me to join Delhi Police. I have been preparing for Delhi Police’s entrance exams” said Deepak, who is also in his second year B.B.A. course from ITS institute in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Tomar was cremated with state honours Tuesday at Nigam Bodh Ghat here in the capital.