Biker dies in accident due to pothole-ridden road, late ambulance

A 59-year-old man died after a dumper truck hit his bike, allegedly due to potholes on Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road; driver arrested.

Mumbai: A 59-year-old died after a dumper truck hit his bike from behind, allegedly due to potholes near the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road on Saturday afternoon. The Powai police have arrested the 25-year-old dumper driver, and are looking into the pothotle-ridden roads of the area.

Biker dies in accident due to pothole-ridden road, late ambulance

on the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

According to the police, the incident took place at 2.25pm on Saturday at NTPC junction, when the deceased, Lalu Kamble, was on his way towards Vikhroli. “The passersby informed us and rushed the injured to the Rajwadi hospital. The patrolling officers intercepted the dumper and arrested Sajid Shaikh (the driver) shortly after,” said a police officer from Powai police station.

The police said that while Kamble had slowed down his bike to dodge the potholes, Shaikh did not gauge the state of the road and hit Kamble from behind.

Lalu’s son, Vijay Kamble, 32, who works at a bank and lives in Andheri with his parents, wife, and children, said that he was on his way to Sakinaka when he heard his father had been in an accident. Doctors told Vijay that his father had died due to severe headache injuries.

Lalu’s friend Rajan Maknikar, a social activist, said that there was a delay of nearly two hours in rushing the injured to the hospital. “It took one hour for the ambulance to arrive and then the vehicle was stuck in traffic,” said Maknikar, adding that he would approach the police to book even the civic officials responsible for the maintenance of the road.

Vijay said that there is a nearly one-foot deep pothole along that road. He alleged that his father lost balance on that pothole and was then hit by the dumber. “The state of the road there is pathetic. When we went with the police to the spot, a biker was about to fall due to the same pothole. This is complete negligence on the part of the government,” said Vijay. Vijay.

The driver of the dumper, a resident of Shivaji Nagar in Govandi, was booked under sections 106 (1) (causing death by negligence) and 281 (rash driving or riding on a public way) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS).