Chennai: Drunk driver mows down two pedestrians in Villivakkam

CHENNAI: A drunk driver trying to escape a mob that gathered after he had knocked down and injured a woman drove his Toyota Innova into a narrow lane and ran over and killed two people at Villivakkam in Chennai on Friday morning. A CCTV clip of the incident went viral on social media.
The driver continued to speed down the lane, dragging a woman’s body along, till it narrowed so much that he had to stop. Locals who gave chase pulled him out of the vehicle and thrashed him badly. Police called to the scene took the man away from the irate locals and put him in hospital.
CCTV camera footage from Annai Sathya Nagar shows the Innova driven by Deivendran knocking down a man at the entrance to the lane and seconds later running over a woman crossing the road.
Police identified the man as Deivendran, 42, also a resident of Villivakkam who dabbled in real estate and also rented his vehicle out to tour operators. Police arrested him for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, besides drunken driving and said he would be sent to jail once his injuries healed.
According to accounts the police had pieced together from questioning the driver and witnesses, as the Padi flyover was closed temporarily, Deivendran took a shortcut down a narrow lane around 7.15am. As he was drunk, he banged against an electricity junction box. While reversing, he hit a pedestrian, M Athilakshmi, 50, who was injured badly. Hearing her cries for help, passersby and locals began to surround the vehicle.
Deivendran panicked and sped away only to find the road was blocked for some drainage work. He then swerved left towards Annai Sathya Nagar and the CCTV footage clearly shows him knocking down a man standing at the entrance to the lane and then seconds later running over a woman who was crossing the road. The CCTV footage shows the vehicle passing out of range of the camera with the woman’s body evidently stuck under it.
Residents give chase, beat up driver
The man who was knocked down was identified as D Mohan alias Madhanagopal, 45, a resident of Villivakkam. He died in hospital. The woman was woman C Sarasa, 77, who lived down the lane and was on her way to a house nearby where she works as a maid. Police said Sarasa died on the spot as she was dragged by the vehicle for about 50 metres before her body fell on the road very near her house.
The CCTV footage showed at least a dozen of people chasing the car . They found it had come to halt after hitting a bike as the lane was too narrow for it to pass through. The locals spotted Deivendran trying to flee and thrashed him.
Police later took him to hospital. The Thirumangalam traffic investigation wing police inspector Shyamala said, “We have booked Deivendran under the IPC Sections 304 (II) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 185 (drunken driving).”