Hours after four women were killed in a tragic road accident in Telangana’s Karimnagar district, police arrested three minors travelling in the car, as well as the car owner whose son was driving the car at the time of the accident. On the morning of January 30, Sunday, four women were killed and three others were injured when an over-speeding car ran over a group of workers sitting on the pavement near Kaman Chowrasta on the Karimnagar-Hyderabad highway. The occupants of the SUV had fled the accident site. Karimnagar police said that the owner of the car and the father of the 16-year-old driving the car initially told the police that he had been driving the car, but investigation revealed that it was three minors who were directly involved in the accident.
Police have booked the three minor boys and the owner of the car Kacchakayala Rajendra Prasad under Section 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code. Karimnagar Police Commissioner V Satyanarayana told the media that on the morning of January 30, as it was foggy, the boy driving the car was unable to see clearly. “He stepped on the accelerator instead of brakes, lost control of the steering and turned left. At that speed, they ran over the women on the pavement. One woman was smashed against an electric pole,” the Commissioner said, narrating how the accident occured.
After the accident, the three minors fled the scene. “Initially, the father (Rajendra Prasad) came and tried to tell us he had been driving. However, further interrogation revealed that the son of Rajendra Prasad, a 16-year-old boy, was responsible. Since the two minors next to him also encouraged the driving, they have also been arrested. The father has also been arrested for negligently allowing them to often access the car, and causing the death of the four persons,” the Commissioner said.
According to IANS, preliminary investigation revealed that the SUV had eight challans pending against it for over speeding/dangerous driving. The e-challans were issued under the limits of different police stations of Cyberabad, Siddipet and Karimnagar over the last four years. Meanwhile, relatives of the victims and leaders of opposition parties had staged a protest in the town, demanding justice for the affected families.
The victims were workers who made a living by making knives and axes. While one woman died on the spot, six others were injured. They were shifted to the Karimnagar Government Hospital, where three of them succumbed. Eye witnesses told policemen that none of the occupants in the car were injured and they all escaped leaving behind the damaged vehicle.
With IANS inputs