HYDERABAD: Five people travelling in an auto-rickshaw died on the spot after a lorry rammed into the three-wheeler on the national highway (NH) in Kamareddy district on Monday evening. The auto was stolen from Nizamabad district earlier in the day and was proceeding on the wrong side when the accident occurred.
Of the five deceased, Kamareddy police have so far identified two people - J Mahajan Bujang (53) and B Krishna (17). Both were passengers and were identified based on ID cards recovered from them. The teenager was found to be an Intermediate first year student and was carrying books on him, police said. Identity of the driver and two other passengers are yet to be ascertained.
According to the police, the crash took place around 4.15 pm when the auto suddenly came onto the highway - through a road connecting the village to the NH - and appeared in front of the container lorry, with a Gujarat registration number. Though the lorry driver tried to avoid a collision, he failed.
Auto stolen, cops file case against driver
"The auto driver was supposed to take an underpass to reach the other side of the road. Instead, he decided to go on the wrong side on the highway and ended up coming under the wheels of the lorry," said B Srinivas Reddy, superintendent of police, Kamareddy.
During investigation, the police found that the auto-rickshaw was a stolen one.
In fact, on Monday morning, a person claiming to be the vehicle owner lodged a complaint with the police that his parked auto at Rudrur (Nizamabad district) was stolen by an unknown person.
"We do not know who stole the vehicle, but it was the same auto. It was involved in a minor accident in Degloor in Maharashtra as well though we have no information about who was driving it at that time. Subsequently, this major accident took place," the SP said.
A case was registered under section 304 A (negligence causing death) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the auto-rickshaw driver.
