The Traffic Investigation Wing (TIW) will investigate the accident at Chinniyampalayam wherein a woman was knocked down and dragged by a multi purpose vehicle (MPV) on Avinashi Road in the early hours of September 6, said a senior officer of Coimbatore city police on Sunday.
The investigation by the Peelamedu police found that it was a case of hit and run. They also detained a suspect late on Saturday and seized his MPV which is believed to have hit the woman, identified as C. Lakshmi (80), a resident of Kariampalayam.
According to the police, the woman was working at the canteen of Coimbatore Institute of Technology (CIT). She used to stay in a room near the canteen. The woman's family members told the police that she used to walk all the way between her house and CIT whenever required. The accident took place around 5.45 a.m. on September 6 when she was walking to CIT, said the police.
“The speeding vehicle hit her when she tried to cross the road between KGM Hospital and Hotel Gokulam Park. She was dragged on the road after her saree got stuck under the MPV. The CCTV visual from a tyre showroom showed the woman getting detached from the vehicle and it looked as if the woman was dumped from the moving vehicle,” said an official who was part of the investigation.
The investigating teams traced the MPV to a garage at Pattanam near Sulur. The mechanic told the police that M. Faisal (36) from Indira Nagar near Nehru Nagar left the car for repair and a saree was found stuck under the car. Faisal had returned from Tiruchi with his family members on September 6 morning, around the time of the accident.
The Peelamedu police on Sunday altered the case which they registered under Section 174 of the CrPC for unnatural death to a case under Sections 304 A (causing death by negligence) and 134 (duty of driver in case of accident and injury to a person) of the Motor Vehicles Act.
“As it is an accident, TIW will take over the investigation. Further action against the suspect will be taken by the TIW,” the official added.
