17 October,2023 06:37 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Samruddhi expressway accident/PTI
An official from the Regional Transport Office (RTO) disclosed that the pending motor vehicle (MV) tax of a private minibus involved in a fatal accident on the Samruddhi Expressway was paid online within less than four hours after the tragic collision claimed 12 lives, stated a report in PTI.
The ill-fated minibus, registered at the Nashik Regional Transport Office, had its MV tax paid online for the periods between September 1 and 30 and October 1 and 31. The payment was made at 4:13 AM on October 15, shortly after the accident that occurred around 12:30 PM in the Vaijapur area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.
The minibus was found to be carrying 35 passengers, nearly double the permitted capacity of 18, and lacked a valid permit at the time of the accident. Records indicated that the minibus was registered at the Nashik RTO on October 14, 2016, the report further added.
The RTO had not issued any permits for the minibus in over five months, with the last permit being a 'special permit' granted on April 20, 2023, specifically for the Nashik-Garudeshwar journey.
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"In more than five months, the RTO had not issued any permit to the minibus. The last permit issued was a 'special permit' dated April 20, 2023, which was valid between April 20 and 24 for Nashik- Garudeshwar journey," an official told PTI.
Nashik RTO officer Pradeep Shinde confirmed that the MV tax payment was received a few hours after the accident and verified that the minibus was operating without a valid permit during the tragic crash.
The accident appeared to occur when the speeding minibus, bound for Nashik, collided with a stationary container truck near Vaijapur at approximately 12:30 am on that fateful Sunday, leading to 12 fatalities and 23 injuries. The truck involved was reportedly stopped by an RTO team on the expressway. Consequently, a case was registered against the truck driver, Brijesh Kumar Chandel, as well as two RTO officials identified as Pradeep Rathod and Nitinkumar Gonarkar.
The Samruddhi Mahamarg, also known as the Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, is a 701-kilometer-long expressway connecting Nagpur and Mumbai, with construction completed on the Nagpur-Igatpuri (Nashik district) stretch.
