Two Ranbaxy employees die in car-truck collision

Two staffers of the Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited unit in Asron near Ropar were killed on the spot when the Maruti Zen in which they were traveling collided head-on with a recklessly driven truck on the Kharar-Ropar stretch of National Highway-21 near Chanalon village,close to Kharar,late on Sunday evening. Both the victims — Harpreet Singh of Malhotra Colony,Ropar,and his colleague Saurav of Bas village near Naya Nangal,Ropar — were in their early 30s and working as supervisors at the leading drug manufacturing unit,Investigating Officer (IO) Amrit Lal told Newsline.

The bodies were so badly crushed inside the mangled remains of the car that it took a long time for the highway police patrol party to cut down the iron body of the car to pull out the deceased,disclosed the IO,while revealing that it could not be ascertained who was at the wheels of the ill-fated car.

Lal divulged that it was at around 9 pm that a the driver of a speeding truck coming from the Ropar side,in a bid to overtake another vehicle moving ahead of it,lost control of the vehicle and collided head-on with the car in which the Ranbaxy employees were heading back home from Mohali. The “killer” driver fled the spot with the truck before anyone could note down its registration number. Both the victims were declared dead on arrival at the Civil Hospital. The cops have booked the unknown truck driver for causing deaths by rash and negligent driving but no clue of the accused could be found yet,the IO added. The victims were married and had two minor children each.