3 men accompanying Ganesh idols killed in Gujarat’s Navsari
The deaths occurred in two separate incidents on Tuesday while members of local Ganesh mandals in Gujarat’s Navsari district were transporting the idols to their pandals.
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According to the years-old tradition, a Ganapati idol arrived in Laxmi Vilas Palace in Vadodara on Wednesday on the first day of Ganesh Chaturthi, with the traditional sound of shehnai and chants of 'Ganapati Bappa Morya'. (Express Photo by Bhupendra Rana)A day before Ganesh Chaturthi, three men escorting Ganesh idols in Gujarat’s Navsari district were killed in two separate incidents on Tuesday, the police said.
In the first incident, on Tuesday evening, two men were electrocuted and five others suffered severe burns after their handcart, made of iron and wood, struck a high-tension overhead electric line while the group was escorting a 13.6 ft Ganesh idol.
According to the Navsari police, the incident occurred when members of Prakash Ganesh Mandal from Karadi village decided to pull a handcart with a Ganesh idol, just a km away from the pandal. Seven people were pulling the handcart when an iron angle, placed to support the idol, touched an overhead electric wire in the village. All seven men, residents of Karadi village in Jalalpore taluka, were severely injured.
The men were rushed to a private hospital in Navsari, where Pritesh Patel, 37, and Mitul Patel, 25, succumbed to their injuries. The police identified the injured as Nilesh Patel, 45, Vikas Patel, 38, Nishant Patel, 26, Krish Patel, 17, and Keyur Patel, 16. Nishant’s condition is critical, according to doctors.
“We bought the idol from Navsari town. The hand cart was pulled by a jeep, but on the way, the jeep broke down, so we hired a tractor. The tractor pulled the hand cart, and it reached the entry gate of our village. The tractor driver left with his vehicle. As we had reached the village and only 1 km distance was left, the youths decided to pull the handcart,” Rajesh Patel, a member of Prakash Ganesh Mandal, said.
“As we crossed some distance, there was an electric high tension wire overhead, which touched the iron angle meant to support the idol. We will inform the village sarpanch to increase the height of the overhead power supply line, so that such an incident can be averted,” he added.
The Jalalpore police have lodged an accidental death complaint and have started a probe.
Trip in ‘DJ-loaded tempo’ ends in tragedy
In the second accident, a 20-year-old man seated in a ‘DJ-loaded tempo’ that was accompanying a vehicle carrying a Ganesh idol died after he lost balance and fell on the road. The back wheel of the tempo ran over his head, killing him instantly, the police said.
The police identified the deceased as Nayan Halpati, 20, a resident of Manekpore village in Gandevi taluka of Navsari district. Police sources stated that Nayan and his friend, Rohit Halpati, 19, were seated on a music system box in the tempo when they lost their balance.
“The local Ganesh mandal was bringing the idol to the village. There were two vehicles, one carrying an idol and another carrying a DJ music system. The music system owner had not strapped the huge boxes of the music system. Nayan and Rohit were seated on it. Due to the movement of the vehicle, the boxes fell. Nayan and Rohit also fell. Nayan came under the back wheel of the tempo and died on the spot,” C K Katariya, Police Inspector, Navsari town, said.
Nayan’s father, Praveen Halpati, a resident of Manekpore village, has lodged a complaint against the DJ music system owner, Jaybhai, and driver Yogesh Dhimmer with the Navsari town police station. Both accused have been booked under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 110 (culpable homicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
“We have sent our teams to arrest both accused on the basis of the complaint filed by the father of the deceased youth,” Katariya said.
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