KUMUD JENAMANI
Jamshedpur, May 18: A man and his elderly father-in-law were killed after a car rolled over them in back gear at Neta village under Rajnagar area in the adjoining Seraikela-Kharsawan district about 30 km away from here around on Tuesday midnight.
Those killed were identified as Rengta Mukhi (40) and Bhola Mukhi (65).
The tragedy occurred at about 11.30 pm last night while both Rengta and Bhola were in deep slumber in Rengta Mukhi’s residential premises under the open sky.
As the house is located along the Hata-Rajnagar-Chaibasa state highway, a white sedan ran over the duo while in back gear motion. The car driver had deviated into Rengta Mukhi’s residential premises while trying to take a U-turn on the highway.
According to bereaved family members, both Rengta and his father-in-law had attended a religious program organised on the occasion of Baisakh Purnima on Tuesday night and had laid on the bedsheets spread in the courtyard.
“As both of them were tired, they had fallen asleep soon at around 11 pm. But half an hour later we heard a scream from the courtyard. On reaching there we found both Rengta and Bhola Mukhi under the wheels of a car in our courtyard,” said one of the female members of the family.
On finding the duo in critical condition, they forced the driver to take them to Seraikela Sadar Hospital where the doctors on the emergency duty declared them as dead.
OC, Rajnagar thana, Sambhu Sharan said the mishap took place due to the driver’s fault.
“The driver should have checked while putting the vehicle in back gear. We have already arrested him and seized the car, ” said Sharan.
The Hata-Rajnagar-Chaibasa highway seems to have turned into a mishap magnet after it has been reconstructed and modified four years ago. Four-wheelers and heavy vehicles tend to run at breakneck speed, causing fatal mishaps regularly.
