Chandigarh: Driver killed as auto overturns in bid to avoid crash

The Mauli Jagran resident was driving his children to Phase 5 in Mohali, when a biker jumped the red light near Sector 40, Chandigarh, and came in front of him

A 48-year-old man was killed after his auto-rickshaw overturned in a bid to avoid a collision with a motorcycle at the Sector 40-41 lightpoint on Friday.

While his children escaped unhurt, the auto driver, Rakesh Kumar, suffered head injuries. He was rushed to PGIMER, Chandigarh, where he died during treatment. (HT File Photo/For representation only)

Police said the motorcyclist had jumped the red light and came in the way of the auto, forcing its driver, Rakesh Kumar, to slam the brakes, which caused the vehicle to turn turtle.

Kumar’s son Karan, 22, told the police that the accident took place when he, his sister and father were headed from their house in Housing Board Colony, Mauli Jagran, to Phase 5, Mohali, to drop her at her computer class.

While he and his sister escaped unhurt, his father suffered head injuries. He was rushed to PGIMER, where he died during treatment.

The motorcyclist, Keshav, 24, a resident of Jhujhar Nagar, Mohali, was arrested and later released on bail.

He was booked under Sections 304-A (causing death by negligence), 279 (rash driving) and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code at the Sector 39 police station.

The police impounded both the auto-rickshaw and motorcycle.