7 of two families killed in twin road accidents
AMRITSAR/LUDHIANA : Seven members of two families were killed in separate road accidents in the state late on Saturday night.
The first incident took place at Sarangdev Jaggiwal village falling under the Ajnala subdivision in Amritsar where four members of a family died when the motorcycle they were riding was hit by an unidentified vehicle.
Station house officer of the Ajnala police station Supinder Kaur said Surjit Singh (35), his wife Santosh Kaur (32), their daughter Preet Kaur (7) and son Sonu (5) of Sarangdev Channa village were crushed to death.
Surjit’s brother Kuldeep Singh said: “My brother, who was working as a cook, his wife and children were returning from a wedding function at Bhindian village when the incident took place.”
A case under Sections 304-A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against the driver of the unidentified vehicle at the Ajnala police station, said the SHO.
The bodies were handed
over to relatives after post-mortem, said the SHO, adding efforts were on to identify the vehicle that hit the motorcycle.
On Sunday, relatives of the victims held a protest in Ajnala and refused to cremate the bodies till the accused driver is identified and arrested. “There is a possibility that my brother and his family were crushed by a truck loaded with sand,” said Kuldeep.
In another incident, three members of a Machhiwara family died while four others suffered injuries in a head-on collision between two cars on a bypass in Samrala late on Saturday night.
The victims were identified
as Charanjit Kaur (44) of Indra Colony in Machhiwara, her brother-in-law (husband’s brother) Sarbjit Singh (40) and Sarbjit’s wife Ramandeep Kaur (38). Priti (25), daughter of Charanjit, and her neighbour Makhan (45) suffered severe injuries. Occupants of another car Happy and Pawandeep were also injured in the crash.
Charanjit’s nephew Harwindwer Singh said his aunt, Sarbjit and Ramandeep along with Makhan had gone to Sihala village in Samrala to bring Priti along after she said her in-laws were harassing her. While returning, their Maruti Suzuki Zen car collided head-on with a Hyundai Verna car. Charanjit,
Sarbjit and Ramandeep died at the spot, while Priti and Makhan were injured.
Passersby initiated the rescue operation and rushed the victims to a hospital. On being informed, the Samrala police reached the spot and initiated investigation. Rescuers had to face difficulty in taking out the victims from the badly-damaged cars. Priti, who suffered serious injuries, was referred to the Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, from the Ludhiana civil hospital. Later, she was referred to PGIMER, Chandigarh. According to doctors, Priti suffered serious head injuries, while Makhan suffered a fracture in his thigh.
Station house officer, Samrala, Bhindar Singh, said a case of reckless driving and causing death due to negligence has been lodged against Happy of Kotkapura, who was driving the Verna.