Man, daughter crushed to death by speeding truck in Ludhiana

The 48-year-old man and his 11-year-old daughter were crushed to death, while another man suffered severe injuries after the vehicle hit their scooter at Kailash Nagar Chowk near Basti Jodhewal

A 48-year-old man and his 11-year-old daughter were crushed to death, while another man suffered severe injuries after a speeding truck hit their scooter at Kailash Nagar Chowk near Basti Jodhewal on late Sunday night.

Locals gathered at the spot where the man and his daughter were crushed under a truck at Kailash Chowk on Sunday night. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

The deceased were identified as Vikau Ram, and his daughter, Sapna, of Gagandeep Colony of Kailash Nagar. The injured is Suman Kumar, 28, of Kailash Nagar.

Vikau’s son, Sanjiv Rawat, who works and lives at a printing press in Shivpuri, said his father, mother and sister were living in Gagandeep Colony. He said his father and sister had come to see him on Sunday. After having dinner, he had requested Suman, his friend, to drop the two home on his scooter.

As the three reached near Kailash Nagar Chowk, a speeding truck loaded with containers hit them, crushing the father-daughter duo under it. The truck managed to escape from the spot, leaving his vehicle on the road.

Sanjiv said he had rushed to the spot and taken the three to a nearby hospital with the help of locals, where his father and sister were declared brought dead, while Suman is undergoing treatment.

Mishap waiting to happen

Basti Jodhewal station house officer sub-inspector (SI) Arshpreet Kaur Grewal said, “The victims were triple riding on the scooter and no one was wearing a helmet. Eyewitnesses said Suman took a short-cut to reach the national highway, when the truck hit the scooter and dragged the victims to at least 50 metres.”

The SI said Suman has yet to record his statement, following which the police will take action accordingly.

Protest ensues

Fumed over the deaths, the locals staged a protest at the spot and blocked the traffic for two hours. The protestors alleged that the Basti Jodhewal police station was just 100m away from the accident spot, but the accused managed to flee as the police were not swift to take action. They also said that the Kailash Nagar Chowk had become an accident-prone area, but the police had done nothing to mitigate mishaps. Later, the police pacified the protesters and restored the traffic flow.

Earlier on June 30, a 31-year-old woman had died after a truck hit her scooter near Basti Jodhewal Chowk in Tibba, while her friend had a narrow escape. The women were going towards Samrala Chowk at the time of the incident.

On May 10, a Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) bus had mowed down a motorcycle-borne, Arvind Bhushan, at the same point near the chowk. After the incident, enraged locals had torched the bus.