A police jeep, which was part of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar’s convoy, overturned near Khandala on the Mumbai-Pune expressway around 10 a.m. on Monday, resulting in minor hand injuries to a policeman in the vehicle.
According to the State highway police, the NCP chief was travelling from Pune to Mumbai when the vehicle skidded off the road near the spot where the 190-year-old British-era Amrutanjan Bridge was recently demolished.
Police sub-inspector Kailas Kamble, Khandala unit of Highway Safety Patrol, said police inspector Babar was seated beside the driver in the jeep, registration number MH12 NU 5881, which was following Mr. Pawar’s car. Mr. Kamble said, “For a moment, a private vehicle came behind Mr. Pawar’s vehicle. To provide cover, the jeep’s driver moved the vehicle to the right. The jeep rammed into the divider and flipped, injuring Mr. Babar, who was one of the three occupants of the vehicle.”
NCP sources said Mr. Pawar immediately got down from his vehicle and oversaw medical support for Mr. Babar, who was part of the Special Protection Unit deputed for the Rajya Sabha MP’s security. An ambulance was called to the spot and Mr. Babar received primary treatment. Traffic was held up for a while as the damaged vehicle was moved off the road. Mr. Pawar then proceeded on his journey to Mumbai.
“No case has been registered and only a note about the accident has been made in the station diary,” a police officer from Lonavala police station said.
Another mishap on e-way
In a separate incident, two people were killed and four others injured when a speeding container truck rammed into two tempos and a car around 7.30 a.m. on the expressway. Authorities said the driver of the container truck allegedly lost control due to a brake failure and hit the vehicles on the Mumbai lane at Bhor ghat section near Khopoli in Raigad district.
Taukeer Akhtar Khan from Uttar Pradesh, who was in one of the tempos, and Vijay Suresh Devkar (40) from Andheri, a passenger in the car, died on the spot. Three other occupants of the car — Dattatrey Kailash Shinde (30), Shravani Sunil Shinde (10) and Pandurang Ware — sustained injuries and are undergoing treatment at Pawane Hospital in Pune.
The container truck driver sustained serious injuries and was admitted to MGM Hospital in Kamothe. Anand Narayan Pawar from Satara, the driver of the second tempo, received treatment for minor injuries.
The accident resulted in traffic being held up for more than an hour.