Two techies dead as car rams into trailer on Mumbai-Pune Expressway

Challapalli and Saikumar suffered severe injuries at different parts of their bodies in the accident and they lost their consciousness on the spot. A few local residents and police officials rushed them to a nearby hospital, but they were declared ‘brought dead’ by the doctors.

Two engineers of an IT firm in Navi Mumbai died after the car they were travelling in, rammed into a trailer on Mumbai-Pune Expressway on Monday.

The mangled remains of the car caught in the accident; Mannem Saikumar (top), Lekhi Challapalli (HT Photo)

The deceased have been identified as Lekhi Challapalli, 28, a resident of Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh and Mannem Saikumar, 24, a resident of Hyderabad. They had been to their hometown a few days ago and were on their way to Navi Mumbai when they met with the accident.

The police said that the trailer driver applied brakes suddenly which led to the accident. The front side of the car was also totally damaged in the accident.

“Challapalli and Saikumar took a flight from Hyderabad to Pune on Sunday night. On reaching Pune, they took a rental car to go to Mahape in Navi Mumbai. Saikumar was driving the car and they were crossing Tembri village near Khalapur around 7am. A trailer, which was also moving in the same direction, suddenly applied brakes and it came to a halt mid-street. As Saikumar was unable to control of the speed of the car instantly, it rammed into the trailer,” said Mahendra Shelar, assistant inspector from Khalapur police station.

Challapalli and Saikumar suffered severe injuries at different parts of their bodies in the accident and they lost their consciousness on the spot. A few local residents and police officials rushed them to a nearby hospital, but they were declared ‘brought dead’ by the doctors.

“The trailer driver fled the spot just after the accident leaving behind the vehicles. We have confiscated the trailer. We have registered a case against the driver under sections 304a, 279, 337, 337 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the relevant sections of the Motor Vehicle (MV) Act. We hope to arrest him soon,” Shelar said.

“The deceased’s colleagues had come to the hospital and identified the bodies. We later contacted their family members and informed them about the accident. Once they reach Khalapur, postmortems will be conducted and the bodies will be handed over to them,” he further said.