Three people, including two children, were killed and six others injured after a drunk driver ran over a family of migrant workers sleeping on the footpath in Wagholi in Pune in the early hours of Monday.
The Pune city police identified the deceased as Vishal Vinod Pawar, 22, Vaibhav Ritesh Pawar, 2, and his sister Vaibhavi Ritesh Pawar, 1, all from Amravati. They said those who were injured include Janaki Dinesh Pawar, 21, Rinisha Vinod Pawar, 18, Roshan Bhosale, 9, Nagesh Nivrutti Pawar, 27, Darshan Sanjay Vairal, 18, and Alisha Vinod Pawar, 47.
Senior Police Inspector Pandit Rejitwad, the investigation officer of this case, said the accident happened when the victims were fast asleep.
A labourer Virendra Paramdasji Bhosale, a native of Karanja Ghadge in the state’s Wardha district, lodged the First Information Report (FIR) at the Wagholi police station.
The police have arrested the dumper driver Gajanan Shankar Totre, 26, resident of Kesnand and native of Nanded, under sections 105, 281, 125 (a), and 125 (b) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and sections 184 and 185 of the Motor Vehicle Act. The driver was arrested after his medical test confirmed he had consumed alcohol and was driving under the influence.
The police said the accused was driving the truck at a high speed after consuming liquor. He lost control of the vehicle and the truck crossed the road divider and ran over the people sleeping on the open grazing land alongside the footpath at the Kesnand Phata Chowk in Wagholi at around 1 am.
After receiving information, senior police officers rushed to the spot, and the victims were taken to a hospital. Three of them were pronounced dead, after which their bodies were shifted to Sassoon Hospital for post-mortem examination.
The police said the injured, too, were admitted to Sassoon Hospital after being provided preliminary treatment at a private hospital.
According to the police, the victims migrated to Pune from rural parts of Amravati and Wardha districts to work in Pune. They are mostly daily wage labourers working at construction sites and other small jobs to earn a living.
A family member of the victims told reporters about 40 people were living on the roadside in Wagholi.
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