Soldier, three others killed in car crash

An Indian Army soldier and three of his friends were killed on the spot in an accident at Bangarpet in Kolar district on Wednesday night.

The accident occurred near Aniganahalli in Bangarpet taluk when the victims’ car collided head-on with a Tata Sumo. Police said that the soldier, 34-year-old J Bharath Kumar of Bangarpet was killed instantly, along with his friends Ramesh Babu (39), Babu (39) and Rego (32). Bharath Kumar was serving in Jammu & Kashmir. He had come home to Bangarpet on a vacation. He was supposed to report back for duty on Thursday and was heading to the Bengaluru International Airport to catch a flight back to J&K on Thursday morning.

Bharat Kumar’s three friends, who are also his neighbours, were accompanying him to the airport to see him off. Rego was driving the car and he said to have lost control of the vehicle. The car crashed into the mini truck killing all four passengers inside. Two people in the Tata Sumo were seriously injured and are admitted to Nimhans in Bengaluru, the police said.

The car and the Tata Sumo were mangled due to the impact of the collision. Ramesh Babu was an ex-serviceman. He had retired from Army. A case has been registered by the Bangarpet police.