16 injured after driver loses control; cops file case of rash driving against driver
16 injured after driver loses control; cops file case of rash driving against driver
A luxury bus on its way from an ashtavinayak tour met with an accident leaving two people dead and 16 injured at Otur near Junnar, about 120 kilometres from Pune, last nightu00a0The deceased have been identified as Harish Kalidas Bhagat (25), a resident of Bhiwandi and conductor of the luxury bus Anil Govind Lakhe (28) from Shahapur, Thane.
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| Rash driving: The passengers on their home from an ashtavinayak tour fell into a valley because of the driver'su00a0negligent driving. pic/Kunal Thakur |
Otur police have arrested the driver Namdev Soma Lakha (30), a resident of Thane on charges of rash and negligent driving.u00a0The 16 passengers and Bhagat, who died in the accident hailed from Bhiwandi and were part of a cultural group, which had ventured out on an ashtavinayak tour after hiring a private luxury bus from a local tour operator.
The injured persons were identified as Amruta Sankhye, Mansi Chowdhary, Chowrangnath Patil, Manish Madvi, Mukesh Bhagat, Chetana Bhagat, Nandkumar Madvi, Kalidas Bhagat, Sunanda Bhagat, Kusum Madvi, Vrushali Chowdhary, Aruna Patil and others and were transferred to a private hospital.u00a0
u00a0One of the passengers who survived the accident, Deenanath Chowdhary said, "We had taken the darshan of the last Ganpati of Lenyadri, the eighth Ganpati in the series of ashtavinayak and were returning home. Around 7 pm the driver lost control and the bus fell into the valley. However, the driver managed to stop the bus with the help of the hand brakes, and we narrowly escaped death."
u00a0"We refused to board the bus after this incident, but the driver convinced us that the bus was in good condition. We believed him and again sat in the bus. But minutes later, the driver again lost control and the bus again skidded into the valley," Chowdhary said.
u00a0"The conductor was standing at the door and hence was thrown off the bus. Other passengers were also trapped beneath the body of the bus. Unfortunately, Harish Bhagat died on the spot, while other passengers were rescued by local villagers who rushed to the spot," Chowdhary added.
u00a0Police constable Gajanan Mhaske from Otur police station said, "A case of rash and negligent driving has been registered against Namdev Lakha as he was responsible for the death of two persons while injuring others."
