Chhattisgarh tractor accident: Jawan, part of rescue team, finds mother among those killed

Vasu Kawasi (21), a jawan of District Reserve Guard that was deployed to secure the road for the movement of DSP Kumari, received a call on his walkie talkie that a tractor fell into a pond just a kilometre from where he was . Vasu Kawasi’s mother Phule Kawasi was one of the accident victims

Four persons died when a tractor fell into a roadside pool on Monday along a stretch between Tetam and Katekalyan. DSP Anju Kumari and a team of police personnel who were close by, reached the spot as soon as they received the information.

Police said about 30 villagers from Tetam were on their way to attend World Indigenous Day celebrations, organised by Sarva Adivasi Samaj in Katekalyan, on a tractor when the accident took place. (Sourced)

In a tragic turn of events, Vasu Kawasi (21), a resident of Tetam and a jawan of District Reserve Guard that was deployed to secure the road for the movement of DSP Kumari, received a call on his walkie-talkie that a tractor fell into a pond just a kilometre from where he was . Vasu Kawasi’s mother Phule Kawasi was one of the accident victims.

The area is Maoist-dominated and the road is guarded for the movement of security forces. When DSP Kumari and the team realised the victims were from Tetam, they contacted Kawasi to join the rescue effort.

“When I got the information , I was around a kilometre away from the accident spot. They told me that the residents were from my village. I never imagined that my mother was one among them,” said Kawasi.

“ When I reached the spot, I joined the rescue operation but then spotted my mother’s body, which had been taken out of the pond earlier by my fellow jawans,” said Kawasi.

Kumari said that it was heartbreaking when Kawasi saw his mother’s body.

“We rescued most people but his mother died in the accident,” said Kumari.

Police said that the driver of the tractor was allegedly drunk and lost control of the vehicle. Four persons, identified as Kosa Madvi (35), Dasai Kawasi (16), Dinesh Markam (9) and Phule Kawasi (40), were trapped inside the vehicle and died in the accident.

Police said about 30 villagers from Tetam were on their way to attend World Indigenous Day celebrations, organised by Sarva Adivasi Samaj in Katekalyan, on a tractor when the accident took place.