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Speeding car mows down man huddled near roadside bonfire in Ludhiana
According to the eyewitnesses, the driver was racing another car on the stretch and lost control of the vehicle
A man lost his life after a speeding car hit a group gathered around a bonfire on the Tharike-Sua road near Keys Hotel before crashing into a wall on Monday night. Five others were injured in the incident.
According to the eyewitnesses, the driver was racing another car on the stretch and lost control of the vehicle.
On being informed, Sadar police reached the spot and initiated an investigation. The two car occupants, Karan and an unidentified woman, fled from the spot.
The victim, who has been identified as Mohammad Muslim, 50, was taken to the hospital but did not survive. The injured victims are Lalit Mahato, Deepak, Manish, Avinash and Varinder Kumar.
Passers-by who had gathered at the spot to help the victim, meanwhile, claimed that the ambulance took more than 20 hours to reach the spot.
Rinku, one of the eyewitnesses, said a group of people had gathered around a bonfire outside an eatery late on Monday night when the speeding Maruti Suzuki Baleno car coming from Pakhowal road hit them before crashing in a wall.
“At least five people suffered injuries in the mishap. The locals rushed them to different hospitals in whatever vehicle that was available. One of them was referred to another private hospital, where he succumbed to the injuries,” he added.
Another eyewitness added that the driver was racing another car, a Hyundai Verna. While the other car overtook him, the driver of the Baleno car lost control and hit the group.
Indu Rani, the wife of injured Lalit Kumar, said her husband had stopped near the bonfire while returning home from work. They informed the police and ambulance. When the ambulance did not reach there in time, they rushed Lalit to the hospital in an auto rickshaw.
Sadar police station house officer (SHO) inspector Gurpreet Singh said a case has been lodged against Karan, who was driving the Baleno car. Police teams are scanning the footage recovered from the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed in the area to establish the sequence of events.
No video evidence has been found to substantiate that the driver was racing another car yet, the SHO added.
A first information report (FIR) under sections 279 (reckless driving), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 304-A (causing death by negligence) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the accused.
