A 48-YEAR-OLD man travelling in an auto-rickshaw and its driver were killed and two men riding a motorbike were grievously injured after a speeding SUV crashed into them. The accident took place on the Western Express Highway (WEH) on Thursday when the SUV jumped the divider and crashed into the two vehicles moving on the northbound stretch of the highway.
The driver of the car fled from the spot and the police are trying to trace him.
The incident took place around 1 am on Jay coach flyover on the WEH near the Metro station in Goregaon (East). The complainant, Sachin Kaku (42), a Bhayander resident, was heading home on his motorbike from his workplace in Marol, Andheri. His friend Varun Shetty (53) was riding pillion. He was moving on the northbound stretch of the WEH and an auto-rickshaw was travelling ahead of his bike.
The speeding car jumped the divider from the southbound stretch and crashed into the rickshaw and the motorbike. The passenger in the autorickshaw Jinoy Molakpalli (48) and its driver Rohit Pandit (23) died of their injuries. Sachin and his friend were rushed to a hospital by passers-by.
Jinoy, a resident of Kandivali (east), had called his wife around 11 pm informing her that he is coming home in some time. The couple has a 17-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old son. Police said that his wife is in shock, and they will wait for a day before recording her statement.
Pandit’s brother took his body back to Uttar Pradesh to complete the last rites.
Police have registered an FIR against the SUV driver under Sections 279, 304A and 338 of the IPC and Sections 184, 134 A, 134 B of the Motor Vehicles Act for rash and dangerous driving, causing death due to negligence, causing grievous injury and escaping from the spot without helping the victims or surrendering before the police.
