A 56-year-old pedestrian died on Friday night after a tempo driver, while negotiating a pothole, lost control of the vehicle and crashed into him on the Wada-Manor highway in Bhiwandi, Thane district. The incident comes just two days after a 23-year-old doctor died in a pothole-related mishap on the same stretch.
The Wada police has registered a first information report (FIR) against the contractor who constructed the highway as well as the tempo driver, who is absconding.
The victim, Ramprasad Goswami, worked as a watchman at a company in Kudus village. At 8.15pm on Friday, he was on his way home when the incident took place near Evershine Hotel. “A tempo driver, who is yet to be identified, was travelling in the same direction and ran Goswami over. According to witnesses, the driver was trying to avoid a pothole at the spot when he lost control of the vehicle,” said police inspector Jaykumar Suryavanshi of Wada police station. The witnesses took Goswami to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.
The driver has been booked under sections 304(a) (death by negligence), 279 (rash driving) and 338 (grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 184 of the Motor Vehicles Act. “We have sent the body for post-mortem and are awaiting the victim’s relatives, who will arrive from Uttar Pradesh,” said Suryavanshi.
{{/usCountry}}The driver has been booked under sections 304(a) (death by negligence), 279 (rash driving) and 338 (grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 184 of the Motor Vehicles Act. “We have sent the body for post-mortem and are awaiting the victim’s relatives, who will arrive from Uttar Pradesh,” said Suryavanshi.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, for the third day in a row, residents staged an agitation, protesting the condition of the road and demanding the arrest of the contractor. Wada tehsildar Uddhav Kadam convinced the protestors to end demonstrations after three hours and police presence was beefed up in the area.