A case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder was registered against the driver of the GHMC truck, which crushed to death four of a family at Trimulgherry on Friday.
Police couldn’t secure video footage of the tragic road accident reported on Thursday night as there were no surveillance cameras at the spot. But, the visuals recorded by other cameras while the truck was coming from Trimulgherry Junction to Karkhana indicated that the driver Pandavaiah was turning the vehicle left and right.
“While visuals suggested he was losing control of the steering wheel, subsequent tests confirmed that he was heavily drunk,” North zone DCP B. Sumathi said. After gathering this evidence, police invoked section 304 Part-II of the Indian Penal Code against the driver.
Normally, section 304-A (rash and negligent act resulting in death) of the IPC is applied in road accident case. Private employee Shaik Azhar, 37, started off on his moped with wife Imrana Begum, 28, and four children from his residence at Hasmathpet to attend a function.
After crossing Trimulgherry crossroads, he stopped at a small intersection before the RTA office to find out the location of the function hall. "Pandavaih coming in GHMC truck hit the moped from behind having turned extreme left," the police said.
Being a small vehicle, the moped came under the truck which dragged the two-wheeler for over three metres. Death was instant for Azhar, his son, Shaik Aman, 9, and daughters, Ashfiya Sultana, 7, and Haleema, 3.
So tragic was the accident that Azhar and his three-year-old Haleema got stuck underneath the truck along with the moped. When the police reached the spot, they could not pull out the moped and remove their bodies.
"We brought in a jockey, lifted the truck and took out their bodies," Karkhana Inspector Janaiah said.Passers-by and residents of surrounding localities gathered in large numbers at the accident spot.
Many of them became furious on seeing the gory accident scene and rounded up the driver and tried to assault him. But police shifted Pandavaiah before the crowds could lay hands on him.
Azhar’s wife and daughter Atiya, 6, suffered multiple fractures. “Fortunately, they didn’t come under the wheels of the truck. Ashfiya came under a wheel and her head got crushed,” the police said.
