E-Paper
Couple crushed to death under truck on Sutlej River bridge
Truck driver nabbed from the spot and booked for rash and negligent driving
A speeding truck crushed a bike-borne couple to death on the bridge over Sutlej River near Ladhowal toll plaza on Sunday afternoon.
The victims, identified as Surinder Singh, 40, of Kutbewal Gujjran village and Surjit Kaur, 38, were on their way to a relative’s place in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshehr) when the mishap took place.
As per information, the couple had just crossed the toll barrier and reached the bridge, when the truck hit their bike. After the collision, both victims fell down on the road, but instead of stopping, the truck driver accelerated the vehicle in a bid to escape and ran over the couple, killing them on the spot.
The driver, who was later identified as Naveen Kumar, 25, of Uttar Pradesh, was nabbed by passersby and handed over to the police.
Ladhowal station house officer, sub-inspector Baljit Singh said the truck was on the way to Jalandhar for loading material. The vehicle has been confiscated. Police will be conducting a medical test of the driver to know if he was under the influence of drugs at the time of the incident. The case against him has been registered under Section 279 (rash driving) and 304-A (death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code.
Following the mishap, traffic in the area remained hit for at least an hour.
Victims’ 3 minor sons orphaned within a span of minutes
When Surinder Singh, who works as labourer, and his wife Surjit Kaur had left home on Sunday afternoon, they had told their eldest son, 17, to take care of the two younger children until they returned from their relatives’ house the next day.
But little did 17-year-old Gurdeep Singh know that fate would leave him in charge of his siblings for longer than he had expected.
Orphaned with a span of minutes, Gurdeep was seen trying to console his two younger siblings, Simarjit Singh, 16 and Jaskaran Singh, 14, after they got the news of their parents’ death.
Gurdeep, who has just finished Class-12, and was looking to apply at colleges, says he doesn’t know what fate holds next. “I have to take care of my younger siblings and their studies,” he says. While Simarjit is a student of Class 11, Jaskaran is in Class 10. The children said they had lost their grandfather only a year ago.
Ajmer Singh, a relative, said that Surinder and Surjit had planned to stay at his house for a night. Though the couple had planned to leave home early in the morning, they had to alter their plans due to the fog.
“Minutes after they left the house, we got the news about the mishap. We tried to hide it from the children, but they found out from the neighbours. We will take care of the children now,” he added.
