Telangana police registered cases of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the drivers of accused vehicles in the recent gory road accidents at Gajwel in Siddipet and Manakondur in Karimnagar.
Normally, Section 304-A (rash and negligent act resulting in death) of Indian Penal Code is invoked in fatal road accident cases. It is rare to bring in 304 Part-II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of IPC in road accident cases.
The decision of police in the two accidents, in which 21 lives got snuffed out within a gap of two days, is perceived as a move to send stern warnings against persons indulging in rash driving. In cases of 304-A, the accused (persons driving vehicles which cause accidents) get the bail the same day irrespective of the lives lost.
That is the position of the law. However, in cases of 304 Part-II, they would not get bail immediately.
Even punishment under this section is severe compared to that of 304-A. “In both the cases, it was not just rash and negligent act. Accused persons were driving big vehicles — RTC buses — and knew their recklessness would result in death of passengers,” a senior police officer said.
The Gajwel police have arrested RTC bus driver, 48-year-old Mallaiah, on Wednesday. “Passengers of the bus and even passers-by were eyewitnesses to the accident. They maintained that he was at high speed and drove in reckless fashion,” Siddipet Additional CP P. Narsimha Reddy said.
In Manakondur case, initially investigators believed over-speeding of the lorry driver — who lost one of his hands in the mishap — resulted in the accident. “But tyre skid marks on the road showed the RTC bus — coming from Warangal to Karimnagar — was two feet to the right from the road’s midpoint,” the investigators said.
Even the by-standers at the accident spot maintained that the conductor was seen abusing the driver for the accident.
However, the police booked the case against both the lorry driver and the bus driver.
