E-Paper
Kanpur mishap: Furious survivors blame driver
Raju Nishad, who was driving the vehicle, drank heavily despite warnings and lost control on the wheel, they say.
Kanpur: Loud wails were heard from each of the 14 houses in a lane in Kortha village, just a km away from Ghatampur..
The houses belong to the people of Nishad community. Each house had the body of a loved one being prepared for cremation.
This lane lost 14 women and 13 children in the accident between Saandh and Gambhirpur villages late on Saturday night. The mood in this village of 3,000 people is sombre.
Every person cried when the bodies were taken one by one and kept in four buses and an ambulance to be taken to Deori ghat—the adults were cremated and the children were buried.
Shivram and Ram Dularey, two brothers living together with their families, are now left with no one save each other. Their mother Phoolmati, 65, their wives Jai Devi, 35, and Leelawati, 40, children Ravi, 6, Rohit 11 and Manisha, 17 were all killed.
Shivram was not letting go of the body of his son, tightly cuddling it. “Ravi was born eight years after marriage, he was their only son,” said Gayadeen, his cousin.
The relatives pacified Shivram and slowly took him to the bus waiting outside. A crowd walked behind him, sharing his grief.
Virendra, a survivor of this tragic accident, seethed with anger and blamed Raju Nishad who lives at the entrance of this village. A black polythene sheet spread to cover the tiles on the roof fluttered vigorously.
“His son turned a year old; as per his wish everyone went to Chandrika Devi temple in Buxar (Unnao) for the mundan sanskar,” he said, adding that he drank liquor on the way to Unnao and again in Buxar. “He was driving at breakneck speed; we told him to drive slowly but he did not listen,” Virendra said.
Raju could not control the tractor trolley and it fell in the pond. The trolley went over those who were on it, trapping them under water. Raju ran away from the scene. “The day we find him we will kill him. Had he not consumed liquor, this would not have happened,” he said trembling.
Raju’s wife Gyandevi and son Abhi are admitted to LLR hospital in a critical condition. Gyandevi also lost her daughter Diya, mother-in-law and three sisters in the tragedy.
But Raju, whom the entire village hates at the moment, is at large.
A woman Gulab Dei and her daughter-in-law who were on the trolley managed to slither out through a space. Others were not so lucky..
Gulab Dei said just a km from the accident site Raju stopped the tractor at a licenced liquor shop. He purchased a bottle again and drank it. “I told him to behave or he would end up harming all of us. He did exactly that. As many as 27 people died because of him,” she said.
A police team is tracking Raju and an FIR would be lodged against him, said circle officer, Ghatampur Tej Bahadur Singh. In addition, a magisterial inquiry has also been ordered.
The autopsy on the bodies was performed throughout the night by a team of 10 doctors. At around 4.30 am, all the bodies were brought to the village. Women and men alike threw themselves on the bodies crying. There was a sense of shock and disbelief in the village.
