Ghaziabad: Four killed as SUV crashes on Agra-Lucknow Expressway

Ashok Agarwal, his nephew Abhinav were among those killed after the tyre of their SUV burst

Residents of the VVIP Address high-rise in Ghaziabad’s Raj Nagar Extension were left reeling on Tuesday after two members of a family and their family friend were killed in an accident on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway on their way to Lucknow.

Only one person, Avneesh Kushal, 26, from Kanpur, survived the crash near kilometre 241. (HT Photos)

57-year-old Ashok Agarwal, his nephew Abhinav (20) and their family friend Akash Gupta, 35, were killed along with Avneesh Kushal, 26, from Kanpur, after the tyre of their SUV allegedly burst, causing their car to lose control and ram into a divider near kilometre 241.

On Tuesday, locals and family friends, as they waited for the bodies said Ashok was known by the ‘namak wale’ since his family business linked to black salt. He owned a factory at Kadrabad, near Modinagar, and manufactured salt. He also owned a salt unit in Kanpur.

“He was a very social person and connected to the Agawal community. He was the western Uttar Pradesh president of the Agarwal Community Association,” said family friend Satish Jain.

Jain said that Ashok was also operating two private television channels and was soon in process of acquiring a third one.

“He had gone to Lucknow regarding the work of the channel and had told me that he had set up an office in Noida. But, the journey proved fateful,” Jain added.

Other family friends said that he stayed in the high-rise with his wife Archana Agarwal, 50, their son Rajat Agarwal, 28, and their daughter-in-law Ruchita Agarwal, 25. Agarwal also has two daughters and both are married in Meerut and Hapur.

“Agarwal was very social and also politically well-connected. Early Tuesday morning, his son Rajat, who got married last year, received a phone call from the police. The officials told him that all four travelling in the Fortuner had died in an accident and he should rush to Lucknow. Rajat along with his mother immediately left for Lucknow and yet to return. Everyone in our society is saddened to hear the news of the accident and deaths,” said Kapil Goyal, another family friend.

Goyal said the cremation would be held in Govindpuri, Modinagar, on Wednesday.