CHITRADURGA: A journey to find a bride for a member of their family, hailing from Lakkavalli in Tarikere taluk in Chikkamagaluru district, turned tragic when the cars they were travelling in met with an accident on National Highway-13 resulting in the death of two.
The members of the family were travelling in an SUV and a hatchback, the two cars travelling at high speeds on the highway. While Lohith Reddy was at the wheel of the SUV, Madan Reddy, for whom the family was hoping to find a bride, was driving the other car. It was when the cars had travelled past Holalkere police station in Chitradurga district that the SUV collided with a truck that was bearing down the highway from the opposite direction. Shambulingappa, 54, who was inside the SUV died on the spot, while 34-year-old Shobha Rani, who was admitted to the Chitradurga District Hospital, succumbed to her injuries later.
Following the collision with the SUV, the truck swerved, and collided with the hatchback that Madan was driving. The car sustained damage and some of the passengers sustained injuries, but no fatalities were reported from the second collision.
In all, seven individuals travelling in both the cars were injured in the accident: Mohan Reddy, Nagendra, Mala, Gaganashree, Monika, Lohith and Madan. Cops from the Holalkere police station visited the spot, and after a preliminary investigation, booked both Lohith and Madan for rash and negligent driving. Meanwhile, the bodies of the two victims were handed over to the bereaved family members after postmortem was performed.