BENGALURU: A road-rage incident involving drivers of a truck and a car claimed the lives of two others — a van driver and scooterist — in Nelamangala, Bengaluru Rural, on Thursday morning.
Trouble began around 7am when a Bengaluru-bound container truck is said to have grazed against a car parked by the roadside on Bengaluru-Pune highway, a little behind Nelamangala KSRTC bus stand. But the truck driver didn’t stop and soon left the highway. The truck entered Nelamangala town and was moving near the bus stand when the car overtook it and stopped in the middle of the road, blocking its way. The truck driver stopped the vehicle and the car occupants stormed out to fight with him, said police.
But the sudden halting of the truck caught a Maruti Omni driver unawares and he rear-ended the heavy vehicle. A gearless scooter behind the Omni also ended up hitting the van from behind. The Omni driver and scooterist sustained severe injuries and died before they could be shifted to Nelamangala government hospital, less than 400 metres from the accident spot.
The occupants of the damaged car drove away as the tragedy unfolded, while the truck driver fled leaving behind his vehicle.
The van driver was identified as Sunil Kumar, 21, of Devannanapalya and the scooterist as Paramesh alias Parameshappa, 34, of Danojipalya and from Hassan. The Omni had been decorated for the wedding of Sunil’s cousin this Sunday. “Sunil, a cab driver, was heading towards Nelamangala market to buy flowers and vegetables he had ordered on Wednesday. It’s not known where Paramesh, who runs a travel agency and drives cabs, was going,” Nelamangala police said.
Investigators said they are collecting CCTV footage to trace the drivers. “Only that will tell us where exactly the accident involving the truck and car took place. Both the drivers are equally responsible for the fatalities and have been booked under IPC section 304A for causing death due to negligence,” police said.