PUNE: Two persons were killed and five others were injured after a minibus carrying devotees from Kolhapur to Kandoba temple in Jejuri rammed into a truck parked on the Pune-bound carriageway of National Highway 4 near Mhasve village in Satara district in the early hours of Sunday.
The deceased were identified as Eknath Bapu Kamble, 75, and Snehal Uttam Kamble, 16. The injured were identified as Uttam Kamble, Amit Kamble, Madhukar Kamble, Asha Kamble and Deepak Kamble. All are relatives from Karveer tehsil in Kolhapur district.
Nilesh Tambe, police inspector at Satara Taluka police station, said the accident occurred at 4:30 am near Bapu Motors Tata showroom. “The devotees were on their way to Jejuri for Khandoba darshan. The minibus they were travelling in collided with a stationary truck on the highway in Satara. In this collision, two people died and five others were injured.”
Police further said that Sandeep Eknath Patil, 40, from Kolhapur district, was driving the minibus at high speed rashly and failed to notice the parked truck. Police suspect driver drowsiness caused the accident.
Police also blamed the truck driver, Balaji Laxman Ghate, 25, from Nanded district, for stopping the vehicle on the roadside without turning on the parking lights. The truck, full of gunny bags of rice, was headed toward Chakan in Pune district.
{{/usCountry}}Police also blamed the truck driver, Balaji Laxman Ghate, 25, from Nanded district, for stopping the vehicle on the roadside without turning on the parking lights. The truck, full of gunny bags of rice, was headed toward Chakan in Pune district.
{{/usCountry}}Uttam Eknath Kamble, 42, a farmer and relative of the deceased, lodged the police complaint. The complaint stated that the truck driver allegedly fled the scene without providing medical assistance to the injured or informing the police about the accident.
Based on the complaint, Satara police registered a case against the minibus and truck drivers, Ghate and Patil, under sections 106(1), 285, 281, 125(a), and 125(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and relevant provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act. Further investigation is ongoing.