Palghar accident: Tempo driver held, 5 injured on ventilator

Among the 17 injured still undergoing treatment in hospital, the condition of five people had deteriorated and they had been placed on ventilator, doctors said

MUMBAI: A day after a tempo collided head-on with a container truck on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway in Palghar district, killing 13 people and leaving 25 others seriously injured, the Kasa police on Tuesday arrested the tempo driver on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The driver of the container truck too has been booked under similar charges, but he is yet to be arrested as he is under treatment for injuries sustained during the accident, police said.

The funeral of all 14 deceased was conducted in Bapugaon village on Tuesday

Among the 17 injured still undergoing treatment in hospital, the condition of five people had deteriorated and they had been placed on ventilator, doctors said.

Tribal development minister Ashok Uike, who visited Palghar on Tuesday to attend the funeral of the deceased, said the state government would pay for the treatment of those injured in the accident.

“I will also request the chief minister to increase the ex-gratia amount for the families of the deceased,” Uike told reporters.

As reported by HT earlier, the tempo was ferrying around 40 guests, all tribals, from Bapugaon village to Dhanivari village in Dahanu taluka when it collided head-on with a container truck. The tempo was travelling on the wrong side of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway to avoid a 3-kilometre detour to enter Dhanivari, and the impact of the collision was so severe that the container got detached from the body of the truck and toppled onto the tempo, crushing the occupants beneath. A two-wheeler which was passing by also got crushed under the container, resulting in the death of the pillion rider.

Inspector Amar Patil from Kasa police station said the arrested tempo driver, Mokhada resident Rohidash Dhatrak, had rented his tempo to a group of villagers to attend an engagement ceremony.

“Dhatrak has been arrested for culpable homicide not amounting to murder as he was travelling on the wrong side of the highway recklessly, putting the lives of 40 people in the vehicle at risk,” Patil told HT.

The driver of the container truck, Avdheshkumar Pal, had also been booked in the case, but was yet to be arrested as he was admitted in a hospital, Patil noted.

Out of the 13 deceased, 12 were from Bapugaon and Dhanivari villages, while one woman, Vandana Wali, 35, was from Wanjarje village. Vandana was riding pillion with her husband Shivram Walvi, who is undergoing treatment at Vedanta Hospital in Dahanu. The couple’s daughter Surbhi, who was travelling in the tempo, was among those killed in the incident.

The funeral of all 14 deceased was conducted in Bapugaon village on Tuesday, with the tribal development minister, the local legislator and nearly all residents of Bapugaon and Dhanivari villages in attendance. Villagers said the lack of a service road for entry into Dhanivari had led to the accident. They also sought ₹10 lakh as compensation, instead of the ₹5-lakh ex-gratia declared by the chief minister on Tuesday.

Vinod Nikolay, CPI(M) MLA from Dahanu, reiterated the villagers’ demands. “Since the breadwinners of many families have died, the government should provide more long-term help for their rehabilitation,” Nikolay said.

Fatal stretch

According to data from the traffic police, the 38-kilometre stretch from Dahisar to Ashad in Palghar on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway saw 135 accidents in 2025, resulting in the death of 103 people, while in the first four months of this year, 20 people died in road accidents.

Traffic police officers said most accidents occurred due to vehicles not following the speed limit and lane discipline. They also raised concern about 19 blind spots along this stretch, including 13 in Vasai-Virar and six in Mira-Bhyander.

Police officers said that they had communicated several times to the NHAI to install thermoplastic rumblers, blinkers, signboards and higher median dividers along the stretch, so that pedestrians did not cross over. Requests were also made for provision of foot over bridges and removal of encroachments on the service roads, the officers said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (traffic) Ashok Virkar said the NHAI had been informed about necessary safety measures in accident-prone zones.

“We have also increased night-time patrols on the highway and begun taking action against those involved in illegal parking or driving on the wrong side. To prevent road accidents, it is imperative that motorists strictly adhere to traffic regulations while traveling on the highway,” Virkar said.

Suhas Chitnis, Project Director, NHAI, said a new agency had been appointed to implement safety measures in accident-prone areas along the highway.

“Through this agency, rumbler strips, directional signages and reflectors will be installed. Work on increasing the height of central dividers will also commence shortly,” Chitnis said.