Police hunt for man whose botched wheelie claimed girl's life

 Police are hotly pursuing a young man whose botched wheelie led to the death of a girl riding pillion with him on Old Madras Road, east Bengaluru, on Thursday night.

Shiny Kiran K lost her balance and came under the front wheel of a tanker coming behind when her male friend tried to do a wheelie. The horrific accident had occurred opposite Gopalan Signature Mall around 8 pm.

Kiran and the man had set off on a ride from RJS College, Koramangala, where she was a II PUC student. They went to KR Puram before riding to Old Madras Road. Shockingly, the man sped off after the accident. The tanker driver also ran away.

While police have eyewitness accounts of the accident, no one seems to have noted down or memorised the motorcycle’s registration number. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed near the accident spot have failed to produce a clear footage of the incident.

Police are now left with checking the footage of surveillance cameras installed along the busy road to identify and trace the rider.

A police team is already on the job, collecting CCTV footage from establishments located on the stretch, a senior officer said. Police could not question the deceased girl’s family on Friday as the college was closed because of the transporters’ strike. They will be questioned on Saturday for potential information about the rider.

A relative of the girl, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the deceased would just go to college and return home on time. “She was good at studies. This is shocking for the family. We still have  no idea how the accident took place. We heard that a wheelie caused it. If that’s true, police should immediately arrest the rider,” he said.

According to the jurisdictional Indiranagar traffic police, they have received many complaints about youths doing wheelie and drag racing on Old Madras Road, which often cause accidents.

Kiran’s father Karunakaran works for Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) while her mother is a homemaker. She has a younger brother. The family lives in Jayarajnagar, Halasuru. The post-mortem was conducted on Friday. Kiran’s father collapsed at the sight of her body. The family refused to comment.