Ex-soldier killed trying to avoid pothole

BENGALURU: A retired army soldier from Karnataka’s Mandya district was run over by a truck on Sunday night after he reportedly lost control of his motorcycle while trying to avoid a pothole, police said on Monday.

Madya police identified the deceased as Nayak Kumar SN (retd) (37), a resident Mandya.

According to police, he was run over by a truck when he slipped off his motorcycle in Mandya town on Sunday night. “We have registered a case against the truck driver for rash and negligent driving. Investigation is on,” said a senior police officer asking not to be named.

Former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government over Kumar’s death. “The series of victims of potholes lying on the roads across the state is very worrying. I am deeply saddened by the death of a retired soldier on the road in Mandya. Is there no solution for Karnataka’s poor roads?” he tweeted.

Lashing out at the administration for not acting on repairing bad roads that have already claimed many lives, Kumaraswamy claimed that he had sanctioned a sum of ₹50 crore for the repair of roads, including where the accident took place in Mandya City Municipal Council limits when he was the state’s chief minister.