2 riders thrown off Hosur Rd flyover as cab hits their bike

Two people died after being thrown off the elevated expressway in South Bengaluru’s Hosur Road after a speeding car knocked down their motorcycle on Saturday afternoon, police said.

Mohammad Fakhruddin (37) and Zaheer Hussain (47) had set out from Neelasandra to Narayana Health hospital in Bommasandra where a relative was admitted for treatment.

Around 12.45 pm, as they reached the stretch of the expressway between Bommanahalli and Garvebhavipalaya, a speeding Maruti Suzuki Ritz attached to the cab aggregator Uber and bearing the registration number KA-01/AF 8965 went out of control and hit the side wall before crashing into the duo’s motorcycle.

The crash was so powerful that both Hussain and Fakhruddin were thrown off the expressway, and plunged 40 feet down near a Shell Petrol Pump. While Hussain died instantly, Fakhruddin was rushed to St John’s Hospital by passersby. But he didn’t survive.

The driver abandoned the cab and fled the spot. The jurisdictional Madiwala traffic police seized the car and are trying to track him down with the help of some service bills found in the cab. They are also in touch with Uber officials to ascertain his identity.

“A police team is working to trace the driver by Saturday evening,” a senior police officer told DH. “Only after apprehending him and subjecting him to a medical examination will we get to know whether he was driving under the influence of alcohol. In that case, we would book him under IPC section 304 for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.”

However, at the time of going to press, police hadn’t announced the arrest.  Fakhruddin and Hussain were related to each other and worked as real estate agents.