18-year-old milkman dies as tow van hits bike on Link Road

An 18-year-old milkman was killed in a road accident on Sunday morning in Mumbai after a private towing van hit him from behind. The driver has been arrested for causing death due to negligence.

MUMBAI: An 18-year-old milkman, who was on a bike delivering milk on Sunday morning, was killed after a private towing van hit him from behind on Link Road in Goregaon. The driver had rushed the victim to a hospital where the teenager succumbed to his injuries. The driver has been arrested by Bangur Nagar police.

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According to the police, the victim has been identified as Rahul Gopal Rawal, a native of Udaipur, Rajasthan. On Monday, the police arrested the towing van driver, Sopanna Kamble, 62, a resident of Gilbert Hill Road in Andheri West, for causing death due to negligence.

The police said Rawal, who had arrived in Mumbai four months ago, was staying with his cousin Bhavesh Gopavat, 27, and had been working for a dairy on Goregaon Link Road for the past three weeks.

Gopavat said Rahul had on Sunday morning left for milk distribution on a motorcycle owned by his employer, Ashok Purohit Joshi. Around 7.30am, Gopavat received a call from Joshi that his cousin had met with an accident and was admitted to Shatabdi Hospital.

“I rushed to the hospital where I learnt that Rawal was hit by a towing van and its driver had brought him to the hospital,” said Gopavat.

Officers attached to the Bangur Nagar police station said that Rahul was on the north-bound stretch of Link Road, near D-Mart shopping center, in Goregaon West, when the speeding towing van hit him from behind, causing him to fall. “Rahul suffered injuries to his head and chest as he fell on the ground,” said a police officer.

“Rahul wanted to study and support himself till he got admission to a college. He had told me that he would work odd jobs as he did not want to be a burden on anyone,” said Gopavat, a resident of Shantiram Chawl in Kurar, Malad East.

“Kamble was arrested on the charges of causing death due to negligence under section 304A of the Indian Penal Code and for rash and negligent driving under section 279 of the Motor Vehicles Act,” said the officer.