A Bengaluru-based techie and his wife were killed after their car rammed into a truck near Panvel on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway early on Sunday. The couple's sons, however, had a miraculous escape.
The techie, Ankit Bhupendra Singh Tugh (34), and his wife Sanjana (30) were killed on the spot while their sons Sarthak (7) and Sidhak (4) escaped with minor injuries.
The family was en route to Dadar in Mumbai - their hometown - from Bengaluru to celebrate Christmas and New Year with their relatives.
The police arrested the truck driver Bharat Kumar (31), a resident of Baswara in Rajasthan, but he is out on bail. Kumar was en route to Pune from Mumbai when the car rammed into his truck.
The police said that the couple could have been saved if their car was not dragged for nearly two kilometres by the truck. Kumar was unaware of the fact that a car was stuck behind his truck.
PSI of Panvel Taluka Police Chauhan said that the accident occurred around 5:30 am on Sunday, near Panvel.
The victims were taken to the nearby Rural hospital after 15-20 minutes of the accident, but they were declared dead on arrival.
Their bodies were handed over to the family at 2.30 pm on Sunday. The children were returned to their grandparents after receiving medication at the hospital.
A preliminary investigation has revealed that the truck driver was not under the influence of alcohol. The Rajasthan-registered truck was seized for verification.
According to the police, Ankit had driven the car through the night and may have failed to notice the slow moving truck or he may have dozed off and rammed into the rear side of the truck.
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