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One killed as speeding car mows down pedestrians in Chhattisgarh
The incident took place when a group of at least 150 people was headed for the immersion of a Durga idol in the district’s Pathalgaon town, officials said.
A person was killed and at least 16 others were seriously injured when a car ploughed into a religious procession in Chhattisgarh’s Jashpur district on Friday.
Locals caught hold of the two accused, alleged drug smugglers, around five kilometres from the site of the incident and handed them over to the police, officials said. The locals also torched the vehicle, a Mahindra Xylo, they said. News agency PTI, citing locals, reported that the accused set the vehicle on fire themselves to destroy evidence of drug trade.
The incident took place when a group of at least 150 people was headed for the immersion of a Durga idol in the district’s Pathalgaon town, officials said.
Chilling videos of the incident, which have since been widely shared on social media, show the speeding car emerge out of nowhere, hit the people from behind and run them over. While many people were thrown away from the impact, some were dragged along with the car for some distance before it sped away.
The deceased was identified as Gaurav Agarwal, 22.
“One death has been reported so far. Gaurav Agarwal died on the spot. Around 16 injured are shifted to a government hospital,” Jashpur superintendent of police Vijay Agarwal said.
The two men in the vehicle, Babloo Vishwakarma, 21, and Shishupal Sahu, 26, have been arrested, the SP said.
There was no confirmation on who was driving the vehicle.
Both the accused are residents of Madhya Pradesh’s Singrauli district, and suspected to have been smuggling drugs at the time of the incident, he said.
“The primary investigation suggests that the accused were smuggling cannabis from Sabhalpur (Odisha) to Singrauli (Madhya Pradesh). When they reached Pathalgaon, they got stuck in the religious procession at around 1.30pm. Suddenly, they saw policemen around the vehicle and sped the SUV in panic,” said SP.
Protests erupted in the district soon after the incident, with locals assembling at the Pathalgaon police station, demanding the suspension of assistant sub-inspector KK Sahu for his alleged involvement in the drug trade.
The protesters also blocked the Gumla-Katni highway after the incident, with the body of the deceased, and sought compensation. They also raised slogans against the police and the district administration.
The ASI has been suspended, SP Vijay Agarwal said after the protests.
Describing the incident as “saddening and painful”, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said that the accused have been arrested and action has also been initiated against police officials “who prima facie appeared guilty”.
“An inquiry has been ordered. No one will be spared. Justice will be done to all. May the departed soul rest in peace. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured,” the Congress leader tweeted in Hindi.
Former chief minister Raman Singh hit out at the Congress, seeking ₹50 lakh compensation for the next of kin for the deceased. He said, “This video is very painful. In Chhattisgarh, the drug mafias have no fear of anyone. Will those taking out religious processions be crushed like this now?”
The incident has come close on the heels of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, where a group of protesting farmers was mowed down by vehicles allegedly driven by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers travelling to welcome Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to the area on October 3.
Union minister of state for home Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni’s son, Ashish Mishra, has been named as the main accused in the incident, in which four farmers and a journalist were killed.
In the violence that erupted after the incident, three BJP workers were killed by an angry mob at the site.
(With agency inputs)
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