PUNE: In a shocking incident, an 18-year-old youth, who fell down after his bike skid on Bajirao Road on Saturday morning, died on the spot but his body remained there for about an hour. 

Initially, there was nobody to help and then there was a delay in getting the ambulance to take his body to hospital. 

The deceased has been identified as Ritik Pramod Ladgaonkar, a native of Khandala in Satara district who was living in Katraj. He worked as welder.

As per FIR registered with Khadak police station, the incident took place before 8.30 am near Hotel Ganraj on Bajirao Road in Sadashiv Peth. 

Ritik was riding a motorcycle and tried to pass between a tempo and PMPML bus. 

“It seems that the tempo touched the bike and he lost balance and fell down. He was run over by the bus. He was not wearing a helmet,” said Assistant Police Inspector Vishnu Kesarkar, who is investigating the case.

A good samaritan, Pushkar Tuljapurkar (42), a banker by profession, who lives in the same area, told Sakal Times, “The incident took place at around 7.45 am. The body was lying there in the open but nobody took efforts to atleast cover it. When I learnt about the accident, I went to the spot, got a cloth from Ganraj hotel and covered the body. Police had also reached there. An ambulance from 108 had arrived and their staff had declared the victim dead. But they could not take the body to hospital, as it is not part of their operating procedure.”

The police and Tuljapurkar had a tough time arranging a vehicle for taking the body to Sassoon hospital. 

“We called private ambulances and I had also contacted the Fire Brigade, who sent an ambulance for taking the body to the morgue. But this whole thing took about an hour,” he added. 

When asked about the delay, API Kesarkar confirmed that it took some time to take the body to hospital from the spot. Tuljapurkar believes that police department should also have an ambulance at their disposal. Tuljapurkar added that he will submit a letter of demand to the district Guardian Minister Girish Bapat and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

GROUP ACTS AS GOOD SAMARITAN
Tuljapurkar had received the information about the accident in his ‘Help Rider’ group. One of the group members Aaba Balgude had already informed the police control room. Tuljapurkar reached there and got a cloth from nearby Ganraj hotel and covered the body as it was lying there in the open.