Two men died after being run over by a speeding dumper truck near Lower Parel Monorail station late on Monday. The police have arrested the driver of the truck.
According to the police, the incident occurred under the Monorail station near Bawla Masjid on NM Joshi Marg around 11 p.m. on Monday. The police said the truck which was travelling towards Worli, was at a high speed and swerved to avoid hitting a motorcycle in front of it, which braked suddenly.
“The speed of the truck caused it to veer hard to the left and it ran over two pedestrians before it could come to a stop against the pavement,” an officer with the NM Joshi Marg police said.
Within seconds, a huge crowd of passers-by and local residents crowded around the dumper truck. Meanwhile, word reached the police station, which is minutes away, and a team rushed to the spot to bring the situation under control.
“We rushed the victims to a nearby hospital, where they were declared dead before admission. The driver of the dumper truck, who was taken into custody from the spot, was also subjected to a medical test. His blood samples were also taken to check for inebriation before he was taken to the police station for inquiries,” the officer said.
Based on papers found on the two men, the police have identified them as Sanjay Pawar (59) and Pratap More (50), both residents of Kalyan. The police suspect they worked nearby and were on their way home when the accident occurred. They are in the process of contacting the victims’ families.
The driver, Sachinkumar Chauhan (24), was placed under arrest in the early hours of Tuesday. Officers said he was not found to be drunk at the time of the incident and has been charged with causing death due to rash and negligent driving under the Indian Penal Code, along with sections of the Motor Vehicles Act. He was granted bail after being produced in court on Tuesday morning.
