Go karting freak mishap: Hyderabad cops arrest owners of Hasten; find it functioning sans permits since 2016

HYDERABAD: The Rachakonda police on Friday arrested two owners and a manager of the Hasten Go-karting located in Gurramguda in connection with the death of an engineering student while go-karting there on Thursday. 

Police said the organizers have been operating the go-karting center since 2016 without any requisite permissions from the authorities.

Managing partners Gurram Lohith Reddy, Modini Kiran Kumar, and manager of the centre Kongara Srikanth have been charged with death due to negligence and booked under the Disaster Management Act for violating the lockdown restrictions. 

The revenue authorities have seized the go-karting centre. 

Reddy and Kumar have been running the centre since 2016 at Gurramguda village without the requisite permission or a valid license, the police said. It was also found that the duo did not have any safety precautions in place and was not complying with the guidelines of the central and state governments issued in view of the COVID-induced lockdown.

The 21-year-old engineering student, Kapa Varshini, had gone to the go-karting center along with her brother and relatives. While she along with her uncle were riding a go-kart, her helmet dislodged and her hair got tangled in the rear wheel of the go-kart, due to which her head hit the head-rest of the seat with brutal force, leaving her severely injured. Later she died at a hospital undergoing treatment.

The authorities have sealed the premises of the centre until further orders.