2 food delivery boys knocked down in hit-and-run accident, cops trace car

Two food delivery boys died after an SUV knocked down their motorcycle in a hit-and-run accident in northern Bengaluru in the early hours of Tuesday, police said.

The car's broken number plate helped the police trace it. The motorist is, however, absconding.

Gowtham M, 21, and Sreekanth, 27, working for an online food ordering and delivery firm, were riding a scooter (registration number KA 02/JY 9208) when the car struck them near Platinum City apartment on BFW Cross Road, Tumakuru Road, at 1.18 am. They had just delivered food to a customer in Yeshwantpur and were returning home to Manjunath Nagar, Rajajinagar, when the accident occurred, police said.

The car driver was evidently speeding, and the accident was caught on a CCTV camera at a residential building.

The footage shows Gowtham sitting on the scooter on the roadside, apparently waiting for someone. Seconds later, he is joined by Sreekanth, who occupies the pillion. Gowtham starts the scooter and rides a few metres. As the scooter reaches the middle of the road, the car zooms in from behind and knocks it down without stopping. The crash tosses them on the right side of the road.

Passersby later rushed the victims to a nearby hospital where doctors declared Sreekanth brought dead. Gowtham died later while being taken to Nimhans hospital.

An officer from Yeshwantpur traffic police said a case had been registered against the unknown motorist and efforts were underway to track him down. The case was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by Gowtham's brother, Prabhakar M.

The bodies were handed over to their families after post-mortem.

Traffic police sub-inspector Hanumantharaju and his team found a broken number plate and broken parts of the car at the accident spot. They approached number plate and sticker shops on JC Road and found that the SUV was a Chevrolet Captiva, said Soumyalatha S K, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic, West).

With the help of the broken number plate, police got details of 15 Chevrolet Captiva SUVs. They then traced the car owner by looking into the RTO database. The car's registration number is KA 05/MF 6472 and it's registered in the name of one Bharath, a resident of Madanayakanahalli.

Bharath told the police that one of his friends had borrowed the car and left it in the garage. Police have seized the car and are hunting for the motorist.