A day after Aurangabad rural police arrested three persons including two assistant transport inspectors for their alleged role in an accident that took place on the Samruddhi Mahamarg early on Sunday which killed 12 people and injured 23 others, the police have revealed that the two RTO inspectors have claimed that they were performing their regular duty of stopping the container trucks on the highway and checking their documents. According to the police officials, the two assistant inspectors Pradeep Rathod and Nitin Ganorkar, who were with the regional transport office, had stopped the container truck on the highway early on Sunday. While the truck driver, Brijeshkumar Kamalsingh Chandel, was parking the vehicle on the fourth lane of the highway, the driver of the trailing mini bus could not gauge it and ended up ramming the container. RTO Commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar had subsequently suspended them by saying that the two assistant inspectors had not taken proper precaution or follow appropriate procedure while stopping the truck on the highway. Rathod, Ganorkar and Chandal were also arrested late on Sunday after which they were produced before court on Monday afternoon. The two RTO inspectors were remanded in police custody for one day while the truck driver was remanded in police custody for two days. Senior police officials from the Aurangabad rural police have said the two assistant inspectors have allegedly said that they were just performing their duties, when the incident took place. "It was their bone of contention in court as well," said a police officer. The two assistant inspectors have claimed that it is their duty to check the documents of the vehicles, driver's license, whether the vehicle is overloaded and also the pollution under control. The relatives of the victims along with the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, Ambadas Danve, had also raised questions on the role of the RTO personnel in stopping the container truck on the highway. It was further revealed that the two transport inspectors have also said they have to check whether the vehicle is safe enough to run on the highway as a part of which they even check the tyres. Countering their stand, a senior police officer said, "Although it is their duty to check the vehicles, a recent government resolution states that such checking may cause accidents due to which vehicles should not be stopped on the Samruddhi Mahamarg, especially during the night time." The police added that they are still trying to ascertain what the exact reason for halting the container truck. It was carrying cement and was travelling from Madhya Pradesh when the mini-bus rammed it. The police said that all the 35 passengers who were travelling in the mini-bus, belong to the same family and were returning home after paying a visit to the Sailani Baba Dargah in Buldhana. The deceased were identified as Tanushree Solse, 5, Sangeeta Asvale, 40, Punjabi Ramesh Jagtap, 38, Ratan Jamdade, 45, Kajal Solse, 32, Rajni Tapase, 32, Hausabai Shirsaat, 70, Jhumbar Gangurde, 50, Amol Gangurde, 18, Sareeta Gangurde, 40, Milind Pagare, 50, and Deepak Prabhakar Kekane, 47. They hail from Nashik. All the passengers were admitted to government hospitals in Aurangabad and Vaijapur.
