3 friends die after police van hits their car in Karnal

The two cops in the police vehicle also sustained injuries and were admitted to a private hospital.

Three persons were killed after a police vehicle rammed into their car on the Assandh-Kaithal road near Mardanheri village of Karnal district on late Friday night. The two cops in the police vehicle also sustained injuries and were admitted to a private hospital. They were identified as driver Ved Prakash and Sumit Kumar.

The car in which the friends were travelling in, on the fateful night. (HT PHOTO)

The deceased have been identified as Prayag, 20, Kartik, 26, of Safidon town of Jind district, and Sawindar Singh, 32, of Deora village of Kaithal. As per information, Sawindar was to get married on December 25 and the trio was returning from Kaithal after wedding shopping when the fateful incident took place.

The occupants of the police vehicle, meanwhile, were on their way to receive the new Panipat superintendent of police Shashank Kumar Sawan, who had recently been transferred from Kaithal.

Cops associated with the investigation said that a tractor-trailer that was ahead of the police van had applied brakes suddenly, prompting the van driver to swerve in order to avoid a collision with it. However, the van ended up hitting a car coming from the opposite direction, killing the three friends.

On getting information, a police team rushed to the spot and took the victims to the hospital.

Assandh police station in-charge Jagbir Singh said the bodies have been handed over to family members after post-mortem.