Sushmita Patil (19), granddaughter of senior Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa, was killed when the car in which she was travelling with three of her friends, met with an accident on NICE Road. The others have been injured.
Police quoting eyewitnesses said the car was being driven in a zig-zag manner at high speed when the driver lost control. The car hit the side of a hillock, spun wildly and toppled four to five times before coming to a halt, the police said.
The accident occurred near the Handarahalli Bridge near Byadarahalli in the Tavarekere police station limits.
The police said Sushmita Patil's father, Rajendra Patil, a resident of Yeshwanthapur, is a businessman. The victim was also the granddaughter of the former State Chief Secretary B.S. Patil.
The injured have been identified as Namratha Vittal Sudheer (19) of Lottegollahalli, Akhil Arun (19) of R.T. Nagar and Anirudh Gurumurthy (18) of Dollar Colony. The group, all second semester students of architecture at R.V. College of Engineering, were apparently going to their college.
While Akhil, the passenger on the front seat, and Anirudh, the driver, were saved by air-bags, Namratha at the back survived as she was sitting on the right side. Sushmita was badly injured as the car toppled on her side. She died on the way to hospital.
Car damaged
“The car was fully damaged. The accident scene suggests speeding. The driver lost control and the car toppled after hitting the hillock on the side of the road,” Anupam Agarwal, Superintendent of Police, Ramanagaram district, told The Hindu .
Criminal case
Akhil Arun, one of the injured, has lodged a complaint at the Tavarekere police station against his classmate, Anirudh, who was driving the car. Sushmitha's family members were too shocked to speak to the media.
B.S. Satyanarayana, Principal of R.V. College of Engineering, called the incident “unfortunate”.
He said that following the news of the incident, classes were suspended in the architectural school. During the ongoing fest, a minute's silence was observed.
However, the fest cannot be called off as months of preparation have gone into it, he said.
