Two children died in a road accident near Dahisar on Thursday when a speeding tempo hit the autorickshaw, in which the family was going back home after a trip. The accused has been arrested and booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for causing death due to negligence and rash driving among others.
According to police sources, the incident occurred at around 4.15 pm on Thursday evening, when the complainant, Pravendrakumar Gupta, an autorickshaw driver, was on his way back home to Vasai with his family. Gupta, who had been to Punjab for a vacation with his family– wife Dharmasheela, 35, daughters Ashika, 6, Aakriti, 12 and son Akash, 9.
After alighting at Borivali railway station from Amritsar Express on Thursday afternoon, at around 2.40 pm, Gupta called one of his friends to pick them up and drop them at Vasai. Subsequently, an auto driver picked them up from the Sanjay Gandhi National Park area at around 4 pm and they were sitting in the auto, when a speeding tempo, MH-48-AY-0278, driven by the accused, Shamsundar Saroj, rammed into the auto-rickshaw.
Police said that after ramming into the auto, the tempo hit the railing on the northbound arm of the Western Express Highway before stopping. Due to the impact of the accident, Gupta's two children– Akash and Aashika were run over by the tempo and died on the spot, while the third child, Aakriti sustained serious injuries. Gupta sustained a leg injury and his wife received minor bruises.
The locals, who witnessed the incident, immediately caught hold of Saroj and thrashed him, while the Gupta family was rushed to the civic-run Shatabdi Hospital, where Akash and Aashika were declared brought dead, Aakriti was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Dharmasheela is admitted in the ward as she is repeatedly losing consciousness.
The Dahisar Police arrested Saroj and booked him under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Motor Vehicle Act for causing death due to negligence (section 304A), rash driving (section 279), causing hurt or endangering life, personal safety of others (section 337) and causing grievous hurt by negligent act to endanger human life, or the personal safety of others (section 338). Saroj was produced before a local magistrate court on Friday and remanded in police custody for further probe.
