Sunil Haleangady

Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Mar 16: Investigation into the incident in which a Maruti Omni vehicle had deviated from its course and ploughed into a group of three girl students of Pompei College near Kinnigoli, who were walking towards the nearby Moorukaveri bus stop after college hours, has hit a roadblock as the errant vehicle remains at large so far, it is gathered. Two girl students had been injured in this accident. The accident had occurred on Wednesday March 11.

Postgraduate students of the college, Akshata (23), and Mamata (22), both from Niddodi Muchchoor, had sustained serious injuries in the said accident. Both had been admitted into the hospital immediately.

Out of the two, Akshata has since been treated and discharged, while Mamata, who suffered serious head injuries, continues to fight for her life at the intensive care unit of Fr Muller Medical College Hospital, Mangaluru, as her brain has been impacted in the accident, her classmates revealed.

It was a hit and run case, and the Omni had sped away after causing the accident. The Suratkal traffic police are investigating the case on the basis of CCTV footage got through the camera fitted in front of Pompei College.

Even after five days of the accident, the vehicle which caused the accident remains untraced, as the CCTV footage does not properly show the registration number of the vehicle, and the students of the college who were near the scene of the accident at the time had failed to take proper note of the vehicle.

Traffic police inspector of Suratkal, Gopalakrishna Bhat, said that the police have also accessed CCTV footage of another camera fitted on Kinnigoli main road and matched with the CCTV footage of the college. He concurred that the policemen are encountering problems as these CCTVs do not reveal registration number of the vehicle in question. 'We have since checked CCTV footage of cameras installed at different places in Pakshikere, Haleangady, Karnad and Mulky, apart from the check-post at Hejamady. We have also checked a number of vehicles on suspicion, based on the colour of the car. We are continuing to put in sincere effort to bring the culprits to book,' he explained.

The college students are agitated at the fact that the vehicle owner has been trying to skip responsibility after causing the accident. The classmates of Mamata have decided to submit a joint petition to the college managing committee and the principal on Monday March 16 to put more pressure on the concerned to find out the culprits and take action against them. It is likely that if this effort fails to achieve the desired result, students of the entire college might come together to protest. One of the classmates of Mamata said that the students also propose to request the managing committee to foot the medical bill of the injured student, which is mounting.