Silvester D’Souza
Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (SP)

Kundapur, Jun 17: Three persons suffered grave injuries, and were admitted into a hospital in Manipal, after a Tata Indica car hit the auto rickshaw in which they were travelling near Basrur Junction on national highway 66 on the night of Sunday June 16.

A child, who sustained minor injuries, was admitted into a private hospital in the town. The three who were rushed to Manipal are said to be in critical condition, and battling for their lives at the hospital.

While the auto rickshaw was moving towards Kundapur from Koteshwar, the car was speeding towards Koteshwar from the direction of Kundapur. The accident occurred opposite the bus depot of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation near Basrur Junction. It is gathered that the driver of the car was heavily drunk at the time.

Jayanth (42), an auto driver from Chinmayi Auto Stand here, Sharada (57) from TT Road in the town, and her daughter, Kavya (27), suffered grievous injuries. Deekshitha, the 17-month-old daughter of Kavya, escaped with minor injuries. It is learnt that Sharada works for Sri Durgamba Transport, while Kavya works as computer operator for the local office of Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project.

The car driver, Raghavendra (28), is from Kalavar village in the taluk. He used to park his car at Parijatha taxi stand in the town. The locals said he was seen consuming liquor frequently since Sunday morning, and was in an inebriated condition when he started back towards his home at night.

The car, due to the impact of the collision, deviated to the left of the road, and came to a stop after covering a distance of about 20 feet. While the auto rickshaw has been turned into a mound of mangled steel, the front portion of the car has suffered heavy damages.