A 11-year-old boy was crushed to death by a road roller on the outskirts of the city on Friday afternoon.
Manu R was a resident of Ganigarapalya, and was riding his bicycle when the accident occurred.
According to the police, around 12.30 pm, a road roller was levelling a newly laid road at Banashankari 6th Stage in Hemmigepura near NICE Road, Thalaghattapura Layout. Manu, who left home on his bicycle, told his mother that he was going to play with friends near his school.
The victim was cycling on the left side of the newly laid road when the road roller, all of a sudden, started moving in reverse. It brushed Manu's bicycle, throwing him under the wheels.
"The right side of the victim's head and face was partly crushed between the heavy iron wheel and the road before the driver realised what was happening. The boy sustained fatal head injuries and died on the spot," a senior police officer said.
Fearing public wrath, the driver abandoned the road roller and fled, while a few other workers rushed to the spot and informed the police. The police shifted Manu to a nearby hospital, where he was declared brought dead. His body was taken to the KIMS Hospital for postmortem, following which it was handed over to his family.
Manu was a student of Class 5 at the Ganigarapalya government school. His parents, natives of Shivapura village in Kollegal taluk in Chamarajanagar district, were planning to shift him to another school for the coming acedemic year. Manu’s father, Ravi is a waste collector and his mother Manjula worked as a housekeeping staff at an apartment.
BDA suspends, transfers officials for negligence
Bangalore Development Authority officials suspended an engineer and transferred another in connection with Manu's death. The victim's relatives slammed the officials who were responsible for the construction of the road where the accident occured. The road in Banashankari 6th Stage falls under the BDA limits.
Mayor R Sampath Raj has issued directions for strict action against the officials responsible for the incident. "This is a case of negligence by the BDA and the contractor. Strict action will be taken against the BDA officer and the contractor concerned immediately," Raj said.
Ravindra Babu, chief engineer BDA, said: "The incident happened in the BDA layout development project, where jelly stones were used on the road. The compensation for the victim's family will be announced soon by the BDA."
According to a release from the BDA, it has suspended assistant engineer Devaraj, while assistant executive engineer Honnaraju has been transferred.
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