Mohali man killed in accident on wedding eve

Celebrations turned into mourning for a family in Mohali’s Chhat village as a 31-year-old groom was killed in an accident on his wedding eve here late on Tuesday

Celebrations turned into mourning for a family in Mohali’s Chhat village as a 31-year-old groom was killed in an accident on his wedding eve here late on Tuesday night.

Two of his friends were also injured as their car rammed into a tree after being hit by a truck near the Chhat Bir zoo around 11:45pm, police said on Wednesday.

Gurtej Singh Teja, who worked as a driver, was to leave for Rajpura with the wedding procession on Wednesday morning. He had left with his friends Parveen Kumar and Manjit Singh to make some last-minute arrangements in the nearby Rampur Kalan village.

They were returning home when the accident took place. The impact was such that the tree with which the car collided got uprooted. The truck driver who had hit the car first sped away.

Gurtej was sitting on the front seat besides Manjit, who was behind the wheel. Gurtej got trapped in the car, and his relatives had to struggle to pull him out of the car. The injured were rushed to a private hospital in Zirakpur, where Gurtej was declared brought dead, while Parveen, whose suffered broken ribs and fractures, was referred to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, and Manjit has been admitted to Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh.

Police have registered a case under Sections 304A (causing death by negligence) and 279 (rash driving) of the Indian Penal Code against the unidentified driver of the truck, which bore Haryana registration number.

Gurtej’s family had hosted a ‘sangeet’ ceremony on Tuesday night.

Till about 11pm, Gurtej was dancing to the tune of Punjabi songs along with his relatives and friends. As the party got over, he left, informing his family that he is standing outside with his friends. Instead, he drove away for some work, even as his brother told him to go to sleep instead.

Gurtej is survived by his mother, brother and sister. His father, Jarnail Singh, had also died in a road accident a few years back.

“I should have stopped him from going out. We were preparing to welcome his bride, but now I will be taking home his body,” said his elder brother Gurpreet Singh, while receiving the body after the postmortem.