Corporator's son dies in bike crash

Death struck twice in the span of a month for the family of Vijayanagar Maruthi Mandir corporator V Vageesh.

The BJP corporator’s son was killed on the spot in Nagarbhavi on Friday after he was hit by a school bus belonging to National Hill View Public School, Rajarajeshwarinagar.
Tejas, 17, a second-year PCME student at the Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain College in Rajarajeshwarinagar, was Vageesh’s only son.

A month ago, the younger brother of the corporator had died of a heart attack. Even as the family was trying to come to terms with that death, Friday’s accident came as a rude jolt, sources said.

According to police, the accident occurred near the New BDA Ring Road in ITI Layout (near Nayandahalli Junction) at 12.50 pm. The bus collided with Tejas’ bike, throwing him from his vehicle. He suffered serious injuries and was rushed to a hospital nearby where doctors declared him “dead on arrival.” The bus driver abandoned the bus and fled the spot, police added. The police shifted the body to Victoria Hospital where a postmortem was conducted.

‘People’s person’

Friends of Tejas remembered him as “people’s person.” Speaking to Deccan Herald, one of his juniors in the college said he was popular among students because he would interact with everyone.

“Even all the juniors knew him. He was not much into cultural activities or sports but he would be friendly with all of us. There is no person in the college who did not know Tejas.”

“He would always crack jokes and make us laugh,” another classmate added. “Even all our teachers liked him because he was such a well-behaved student.” Several students from the college visited the family’s home near Maruthi Mandir.

Witness to the accident

Tejas’ younger sister is a student of National Hill View Public School. According to relatives, the girl was in the bus when the accident occurred.

“She was travelling in the bus. She saw her brother riding the bike and remarked that she would complain to their mother about him being out during college hours,” a relative said. “Minutes later, he was run over by the bus.”

Anguished by the accident, eyewitnesses said the girl had stood on a chair to catch a glimpse of Tejas’ face, shouting, “Brother, don’t leave me,” even as a large crowd gathered around the boy.

Family members said Tejas had asked his parents for an R15 motorcycle — the same model of bike which he had been riding at the time of the accident.

His mother had promised to get the bike for him if he scored at least 70 per cent in the mid-term examination. Tejas’ friends said he had borrowed an R15 bike from one of his friends. Tejas had finished one exam on Friday before he went for a ride on the bike, sources added.

Hundreds of people turned up to console the family. The road leading to their house was blocked with well-wishers.

Legislator Priya Krishna, former ministers Somanna and S Suresh, the mayor and the deputy mayor also visited to console the bereaved family.

Second accident involving school bus

This is the second accident involving a National Hill View Public School bus in the last two weeks. A second-year BCom student was killed on the spot when a bus from the school struck his bike near Moodalapalya Circle on September 13 morning. 

The deceased, Ravi Kumar, 20, a student of S Nijalingappa College, Rajajinagar, had reached the main road near his house in Shivanandanagar and was proceeding towards Vijayanagar when the accident occurred.

In the wake of Friday’s accident, chairman of National Hill View Public School could not be contacted as his phone remained switched off.

The school management had described the earlier accident as an “unfortunate incident” stating that it was the first accident in the thirteen years that the school has been operational. “The school hires only experienced drivers and has all measures to ensure road safety,” a senior co-ordinator had told Deccan Herald weeks earlier.