12 die as mini bus rams truck on Samruddhi Mahamarg; driver and 2 RTO officials booked

According to police, the accident took place on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday when 35 members of a family from Nashik were returning home after paying a visit to the Sailani Baba Dargah in Buldhana.

Aurangabad superintendent of police Maneesh Kalwaniya said, “The two RTO personnels had stopped the container truck around 10 kilometres before the Jambargaon toll plaza. They took the vehicle documents and licence from the driver, identified as Brijeshkumar Kamalsingh Chandal, after which they asked him to go ahead, claiming that they shall stop him again.”

The two assistant inspectors identified as Pradeep Rathod and Nitin Ganorkar later stopped another vehicle after the toll naka and subsequently instructed Chandal to stop his container truck.

“Chandal parked his vehicle on the fourth lane of the highway and the driver of the trailing mini bus could not gauge it, due to which the vehicle rammed the container,” said Kalwaniya. RTO commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar said that the two assistant inspectors have been suspended for not following proper precaution while stopping the vehicle on the highway.

“As soon as the message was received at the control room, personnel from both the district police and the highway traffic rushed to the spot and all the passengers were admitted to government hospitals in Aurangabad and Vaijapur,” said a senior police official.

“Another 23 passengers are injured and around 10-15 persons are admitted, of which three are critical,” said the official, adding that the drivers of both vehicles sustained minor injuries.

Soon after the incident, the relatives of the victims along with the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, Ambadas Danve, raised questions on the role of the RTO personnel as they had allegedly stopped the container suddenly, due to which the driver of the trailing minibus could not control its speed.

“Vehicles should not be stopped on the expressway, otherwise what is the purpose of this expressway. Stopping vehicles is like inviting death on this expressway. Action should be taken against RTO officials who purposely stop vehicles on this expressway,” Danve said.

On the basis of the survivor’s statement, the Aurangabad rural police registered a case under relevant sections of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, rash and negligent driving of the Indian Penal Code and the Motor Vehicle Act against Chandal, Rathod and Ganorkar.

“Till afternoon, we were caught up in rushing people to the hospital and getting them treated. We recorded statements only after that and registered an FIR late in the day,” said Kalwaniya adding, “The three persons responsible for the mishap are in our custody.”

President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the loss of lives in the accident. “I am deeply saddened by the news of several casualties in a tragic road accident in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar district of Maharashtra. I express my condolences to the bereaved family members and pray for the speedy recovery of those injured,” Murmu said in Hindi in a post on X.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office posted a message on X saying, “Pained by the loss of lives due to an accident in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district. My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. I wish the injured a speedy recovery. An ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs 50,000.”

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has directed a probe into the incident and announced financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the families of the deceased. Terming the incident unfortunate, Shinde posted on X that orders have been given to take strict action against those found responsible. The state government will bear the expenses of treatment of the injured persons, the CM added.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in a message on X said the injured persons were admitted to Ghati civil hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city, while some of the injured persons were being treated at the Vaijapur hospital.

Member of Parliament Supriya Sule said, “An accident at Jambargaon toll plaza on Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Expressway resulting in the death of 12 and injuring 23 is an extremely unfortunate incident. Repeated incidents of accidents on the Samruddhi Expressway are a matter of extreme worry. The government needs to act by studying the reasons for such accidents.” (With PTI)