Bangalore: Reckless, Drunken Driving Continues to Snatch Lives
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore (SP)
Bangalore, Mar 13: In a tragic accident, Nagaraj (22), a construction worker, who was sleeping on the footpath near a house under construction at HRBR Lay Out in Kalyana Nagar in the city where they worked, was killed by an SUV on Monday March 12.
The SUV was being driven by a girl who was accompanied by a male friend, and both of them were reportedly drunk.
Nagaraj (23) from Devadurg in Raichur district was sleeping on the footpath along with several of his colleagues, when the vehicle moved over him. He was rushed to Bowring Hospital with critical injuries, but died there in the wee hours on Monday. His companions, Rangappa, Shivayogi, and L Gowda, all from Raichur district, were injured, and admitted into a hospital for treatment.
Several construction workers like Nagaraj, who were sleeping by his side, suffered minor injuries, as the vehicle dragged them away at around 12.30 am. They said they were sleeping outside because of hot weather.
Surviving workers said they were jolted out of their sleep when the SUV, a Toyota Foruner, went wayward and dragged them together, before a young man and a woman in the vehicle got down and fled from the scene. They said that the woman was driving the vehicle at the time. They felt that both the occupants of the vehicle were heavily drunk.
Nagaraj, it is learnt, had shifted base to the city in search of better living conditions, a few months back. He had married, and his wife continues to live in far away Devadurg. As she had delivered his baby just four days back, Nagaraj was planning to visit that place within a couple of days to see his son for the first time.
The vehicle belongs to a person named Raghu Patel, the police said, adding that Patel claims he had lent his car to a man named Ravi. Both Ravi and his female companion in the car are missing, they added.
The city has seen such accidents even in the past. Although the policemen claim that they investigate such accidents with all seriousness, and have improved their record as far as nailing the culprits is concerned, innocent lives continue to be lost to drunken driving during late nights.