Hit-and-run mishaps snuff out four lives in Mohali in 24 hours
Two friends in a car, a biker and a pedestrian among the victims; left bleeding on the road by absconding drivers, as per complaints to Mohali police
Hit-and-run road mishaps in Mohali continue to cost precious lives, leaving their families bereaved and haplessly fighting for justice.
In three more such accidents in the district within 24 hours on Thursday, four people, including two women, lost their lives.
Among the victims, two were in a car, one on a motorcycle and fourth was crossing the road on foot. All were hit by speeding vehicles that fled the spot, leaving the victims bleeding on road, taking their last breaths.
The victims in the accident involving the car were Sparsh Chaudhary, 24, and his friend Radhika Sharma 24, a human resource (HR) manager, who were hit by a speeding truck.
Sparsh’s father Dhirendra Chaudhary, hailing from Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, told the police his son and his friend were returning from work in a Ford Ecosport car around 11.30 pm on Thursday.
As they reached near Bollywood Green City in Sector 113 on Landran Road, a speeding truck, coming from Fatehgarh Sahib, ploughed into their car. The impact of the collision caused the Ford Ecosport to overturn and veer off the road.
Dhirendra said the truck driver initially tried to rescue Sparsh and Radhika with the help of commuters. But as Radhika breathed her last on the spot, the truck driver fled with his vehicle.
Commuters managed to rescue Sparsh and rushed him to a nearby hospital, but he was declared brought dead.
Sohana police registered a case against the unidentified truck driver under Section 304-A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and launched a manhunt to nab the truck driver.
1 dead as truck rams into bike waiting at traffic signal
Four hours earlier, a rashly driven car hit a stationary motorcycle waiting at the light point near Gurdwara Singh Shaheedan in Sohana, leaving the bike’s pillion rider, Raju Sharma, 25, dead and his friend Ranveer Singh injured.
In his statement to police, Ranveer said he and Raju were natives of Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.
They were headed from Sector 91 to Gurdwara Singh Shaheedan to pick up his mother around 7 pm. While they were waiting for the traffic signal to turn green, a car rammed into their motorcycle from behind. Despite traffic, the car driver managed to drive off unscathed.
The friends were taken to the Civil Hospital in Phase 6, where doctors referred Ranveer to PGIMER and Raju to Government Multi-Specialty Hospital, Sector 32, in Chandigarh. But Raju succumbed to his injuries during treatment.
Investigating officer Balbir Singh said they were searching for the absconding car driver who had been booked under Sections 304-A, 279 (rash driving), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of ₹50) of IPC.
Woman crossing road struck by unknown vehicle
The third accident that claimed the life of a pedestrian and left another injured took place near Gurdwara Nabha Sahib on the Zirakpur-Patiala highway.
The deceased was identified as Rani, 48, while the injured woman is her aunt Gurmeet Kaur, 55.
Rani’s husband Ram Karan informed the police that the aunt-niece duo worked as domestic helps in Zirakpur.
Just like any other day, on Thursday, after completing work in Zirakpur, they were headed to catch a bus to return home. As they began to cross VIP Road, an unidentified vehicle coming from Banur crashed into them.
Both women sustained severe injuries and were rushed to Dhakoli Hospital in an ambulance. Due to her critical condition, Rani was referred her to PGIMER. But she could not survive. Gurmeet was discharged after medical care.
Investigating officer assistant sub-inspector Karnail Singh said they had lodged an FIR against the unknown vehicle driver on the complaint filed by Rani’s husband.
Police are actively pursuing leads to identify and apprehend the absconding drivers in all three accidents.
176 people killed in mishaps between till August
Since the year began, as many as 176 people have been killed in road accidents in Mohali as of August 31 — an average of 22 each month, as per data shared by the police department, pointing at the urgent need to enforce speed limits and check traffic violations, such as drunk driving, red light jumping and use of mobile phone while driving.
Another 177 and 173 people had lost their lives during the same period in 2021 and 2022, respectively,
“We are putting up police check posts at regular intervals in various parts of the city to check speeding. Further, police are hot on trail of culprits in all hit-and-run accidents to bring them to book,” said Harinder Singh Mann, superintendent of police (Traffic), Mohali.
