Three held for pelting stones at bus on Samruddhi Expressway

The Nagpur Police in Maharashtra on Tuesday arrested three persons for allegedly pelting stones at a bus on the MumbaiNagpur Samruddhi Expressway an official said reported the PTIThe incident took place near Karanja toll naka on the expressway in Washim district late on Saturday night the official saidStones were pelted at a bus proceeding towards Pune from Nagpur and one of the passengers was injured he saidThe Karanja rural police and expressway ambulance reached the scene immediately the official saidA case was registered and after inquiries at nearby villages the police zeroed in on the accused who are in their 20s Superintendent of Police Washim Bachchan Singh told the PTIInvestigations are underway to ascertain the motive for the crime Local police have intensified night patrolling to ensure safety of vehicles plying on the expressway Singh saidMeanwhile according to a report last month a total of 39 persons have lost their lives and 143 were injured in accidents on the MumbaiNagpur Samruddhi Expressway since its launch in December 2022 till the end of April this year the PTI had reportedAddressing the media on May 20 the State Highway Police official said road hypnotism was one of the causes of these accidents reported PTIRoad hypnosis also called white line fever is an altered mental state faced by drivers due to automaticity or the process of doing things automatically without actively thinking about the steps involvedPrime Minister Narendra Modi had on December 11 2022 inaugurated the first phase of the expressway between Nagpur and Shirdi that covers a distance of 520 km The length of the total project officially named as Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg is 701 km The project is aimed at reducing the travel time from Nagpur to Mumbai to seven hoursThere were 358 accidents on the Samruddhi Corridor between December 12 2022 and April 30 2023 These include 24 accidents in which 39 persons were killed while 143 were injured in 54 accidents The State Highway Police is in the process of tackling the issue he had saidAcross Maharashtra there were 15224 deaths in road crashes in 2022 Of these deaths 57 per cent were of twowheeler and threewheeler riders Pedestrian deaths accounted for 21 per cent Some 43 per cent accidents took place on Other District Roads ODR across the state the official had saidWith inputs from PTI