Corporator's relative killed as Canter ploughs into bike

Angry residents beat up the driver of a goods vehicle after it collided head-on with a two-wheeler near Devanagere on Kanakapura Road on Sunday night, killing the rider and grievously injuring his friend who was riding pillion.

The victim, Lokesh alias Lokanna, 50, was the relative of BBMP Corporator Ramachandra and president of a milk cooperative society. He was returning to his Hosapalya home when the accident occurred. Rajanna, the Canter  truck driver, had lost control over the vehicle and ploughed it into Lokesh’s two-wheeler near Gangasandra around 8.30 pm, Talaghattapura police said.

Lokesh was flung into air and died instantly. His friend, Ramaswamy, the pillion rider, was thrown to the other side of road. He is seriously injured.

Shortly thereafter, a large number of people gathered at the spot. While some of them took Lokesh and Ramaswamy to a hospital, others threw stones at the canter. They then dragged Rajanna out of the vehicle and beat up him.

Police, who soon reached the spot, came to Rajanna’s rescue and took him to the BGS Global hospital. Rajanna had sustained massive bleeding and was battling for life, police said.

Traffic was disrupted on the road for over two hours until police cleared the vehicles.