Pune Navale bridge accident: Truck was ‘overloaded’, owner booked for ‘culpable homicide’, say police

The two, along the truck owner Tahir Nasir Khan, 45, also from Rajasthan, were booked under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 281 (rash and negligent driving), 125 (a)(b) (act endangering human life and personal safety), 324 (4) (mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 184, 119/177 of the Motor Vehicle Act, early on Friday.

Police sub-inspector Madhukar Tupsaundar (55), lodged the first information report (FIR) in this case at the Sinhagad road police station
Senior police inspector Dilip Daingade, the investigation officer said that the truck appeared to have been overloaded. “We have also booked the truck owner for loading it beyond capacity. He has not been arrested yet. Further investigation is on,” said Daingade.

Police said accused Rustam, who was heading from Satara to Mumbai via Katraj Dehu Road Bypass, lost control of the overloaded truck on the Navale Bridge slope, reportedly due to brake failure, hitting multiple vehicles, including a car, around 5.40 pm.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Sambhaji Kadam said the impact was such that a car caught fire after it got sandwiched between the truck and a container on the same route.

However, the police have said they are investigating to determine the exact cause of the accident. Among those killed were five people from three different families, who had gone to Narayanpur for a temple visit. These five victims include Dhananjay Koli, 30, Swati Santosh Navalkar, 37, Shanta Dattatraya Dabhade, 54, Dattatraya Chandrakant Dabhade, 58, and three-year-old Mokshita Hemkumar Reddy.

According to Devendra Potphode, chief of the Pune Fire Brigade, the truck that lost control was heavily laden with iron pieces and rods. Potphode said the car that was gutted may have had a CNG kit. “After the car caught fire, the CNG might have exploded,” he said.

Navale Bridge in the Narhe area of Pune and an adjacent location known as ‘Selfie Point’ are “black spots” on the list of the Integrated Road Accident Database (iRAD) launched by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of India. According to norms, a stretch of 500 metres of a road, on which five or more accidents with fatalities or grievous injuries have taken place in three years, is referred to as a “black spot”. Multiple accidents have been reported in the Navale Bridge area over the last few years.

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