Navi Mumbai: The CBD Belapur police have arrested the dumper driver, Ramlingappa Nimbale, 22, from Gulbarga, Karnataka, after he fatally hit a 12-year-old boy riding a bicycle in Sector 8, Belapur, on Wednesday. The accident sparked outrage among residents, who demanded a ban on heavy vehicles entering narrow internal roads.
The victim, Shivam Krishna Bhatt, a sixth-grade student at People's Education Society School in CBD, was returning home from his tuition class around 10 am when the incident occurred. A speeding dumper, deployed for road repair work in the area, struck him near Nanesh Hospital in Sector-8B, killing him on the spot.
Shivam, a resident of Ishan Building in Artist Village, regularly took this internal route due to lesser vehicular movement. However, locals argue that heavy vehicles should not be allowed on such roads, citing safety concerns.
According to police, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) had outsourced the annual road maintenance work to a third-party contractor. Authorities are now investigating whether the contractor was negligent in allowing heavy dumpers on internal roads.
“We are also verifying the fitness and permissions of the dumper,” senior police inspector Sandesh Revale from CBD Belapur police station said. If found at fault, legal action will be taken against contractor as well, said the officer
Following the accident, two police teams were dispatched to Bengaluru and Gulbarga to trace the accused driver. After an extensive search, Nimbale was finally arrested in Gulbarga, and was produced before the court on Friday which remanded him to jail custody.
