Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Warn Heavy Vehicle Drivers: Fatal Peak-Hour Crashes Will Mean Culpable Homicide Charges

Hinjawadi: Heavy vehicles are banned within the jurisdiction of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Commissionerate (PCPC) from 8am to 12pm and 4pm to 10pm. If a fatal accident caused by a heavy vehicle takes place within this time frame, a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder will be registered against all the accused involved. This includes the driver, vehicle owner and whoever assigned the driver the job. A recent case in Hinjawadi, resulting in one death and one injury, has seen this new pattern followed.

On Tuesday evening, a concrete mixer truck collided with a two-wheeler, resulting in the death of an 11-year-old girl, while her mother was injured. Hinjawadi Police arrested the driver, Farhan Munnu Shaikh (age 25, resident of Bihar). A case under the BNS Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 12 (limit of solitary confinement), 281 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 324 (mischief) was registered against him. BNS Section 105 is a non-bailable offence. Usually, in accident cases, an offence under BNS Section 106 (death by negligence) is registered, which is bailable. But with the heavy vehicle ban, those who carry the risks of accidents, especially during peak hours, if found guilty in a fatal crash, will face a non-bailable offence charge.

Pimpri-Chinchwad Police, not stopping at this, have made the concrete mixer truck owner and the company representative who assigned the job to the truck driver co-accused in this case.

The owner of the RMC plant and mixer vehicle, Pradeep Maruti Sathe (age 39), and the Dispatch Supervisor of the RMC plant, Prasad Vitthal Mandalik (age 27), both residents of Wakad, have been arrested on Thursday in connection case. Both of them have been given one-day police custody by the court. Police stated that they allowed the driver to operate the vehicle during restricted hours, which is why they are co-accused. Police also claim that boards regarding the heavy vehicle ban are placed at various locations, so everyone is expected to be aware of it. Driver Shaikh has been given three days of police custody.

Similarly, a Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) bus hit a girl while she was attempting to cross a road in the Hinjawadi area. A case of death by negligence was registered against the driver. However, police sources told The Free Press Journal that the girl reportedly slipped due to gravel kept on the road by the Maha Metro workers. Senior officials from Maha Metro are going to be called in for custody in this regard. Their work and the narrowing of the roads are putting people’s lives at risk.

Senior Police Inspector Balaji Pandhare, in charge of Hinjawadi Police Station, told The Free Press Journal, “We have arrested the driver and he is in custody. We will register a culpable homicide case if heavy vehicles are found guilty in fatal accidents during peak hours. We are investigating the case of the concrete mixer and Activa collision currently, and we have secured the custody of the driver for three days.”