The lorry driver, who went absconding after the incident, had left his vehicle in the middle of the road, since the fuel tank of the vehicle had dried up.

The accident took place near Rangayyanakoppalu, close to Bilikere.

The incident occured when Shivakumar (35) and Ravi (33) were returning to Gundlupet from Kushalnagar by Qualis and Tavera vehicles after purchasing them, according to Bilikere SI Jeevan.

Akbar, Nagesh, Manju and Rajesh who have sustained injuries have been admitted to district hospital in Mysore. Drivers of both Tavera and Qualis have had a miraculous escape, it is said. A case has been registered.

Youth killed  

In a similar incident in Mysore, A youth was killed on the spot when he rammed into a parked car near GRS fantasy park on the outskirts of the city on Sunday.

The deceased has been identified as Shashikumar (29) of Kodigehalli in Hassan. The youth was coming to Mysore when the accident occured, police said.

Extortionists held

The Mandi police have arrested five youth on charges of extortion and theft on Sunday. The five accused – Ravi, Rock alias Putta, Deepu, Vijay Kumar and Guru are charged with extorting Kerala tourists at knife point in a lodge in city.

While Ravi, Rock and Guru are from Mysore, Deepu hails from Channarayapatna and Vijaykumar from Bangalore.

The extortion had happened about two months ago when a group of ten friends from Kerala were on a tour.

They had rented three rooms in Prakash lodge on Sayyaji Rao Road. The accused had also rented a room in the same building. The tourists were threatened at knife point and robbed of Rs 10,500 and nine cellphones. Mandi police who had registered a case have nabbed the accused and recovered the mobiles.