UP: Sleeping by road on way home, 3 cousins run over

The three, who were cousins, had hired a car for Rs 70,000 to take them from Mumbai to their home in Bihar. Their families had cobbled together the money by borrowing from moneylenders in their village.

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The victims were identified as Raju Singh (23), Amit Singh (26) and Saurabh Kumar (23). They were five others in the car— four migrant workers and a driver. (Representational)

Three migrant labourers on their way to Gopalganj district in Bihar were killed in Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh on Friday after a truck ran over them while they were sleeping on an empty patch of land.

The three, who were cousins, had hired a car for Rs 70,000 to take them from Mumbai to their home in Bihar. Their families had cobbled together the money by borrowing from moneylenders in their village.

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The victims were identified as Raju Singh (23), Amit Singh (26) and Saurabh Kumar (23). They were five others in the car— four migrant workers and a driver. The labourers used to work at an infrastructure firm in Mumbai’s Andheri, earning about Rs 10,000 a month.

“The accident happened between 5 and 6 am. The driver survived, while three migrant workers succumbed. The victims and the survivors were sent in separate vehicles. Four were from Gopalganj, while three were from Vaishali in Bihar. Of the four from Gopalganj, three died,” said Mirzapur SP Dharmveer Singh.

Asked about the cause of the accident, the SP said, “The truck driver either slept off or the steering failed. We will investigate that.”

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The police have lodged a case against the driver, 46-year-old Rambaran, under IPC sections 304-A (causing death by negligence), and 279 (rash driving). “He was arrested from the spot,” said Lalganj Station House Officer Harishchandra Saroj.

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In a statement, the SP said the labourers were resting outside the house of a block chief in Lalganj, around 40 feet from the main road, when the incident occurred.

“In the car, three people were sleeping, while outside on the grass four were sleeping. An empty truck came and lost control and crushed the workers. Two people died on the spot, while one died in the hospital. The accused has been arrested,” Singh added.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the mishap and announced compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the deceased, and directed officials to ensure treatment for the injured.

Asad Rehman

Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More

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