Three die in tumtum-bus collision; locals stage protest

Three people were killed and seven others injured in a head-on collision between a tumtum and an NWKRTC bus on Korthi Kolhar bridge near here on Wednesday. The accident sparked a flash protest. The agitating group went berserk, assaulting the PSI and setting the police jeep on fire.

The victims, natives of Bagalkot district, were returning home from Kolhar.
The accident occurred when the driver of the tumtum, trying to avoid police checking, lost control and crashed the vehicle into a bus coming in the opposite direction.

The relatives of the deceased and the injured, joined by a few locals, got into a heated exchange with the police and in the melee, a few persons assaulted Kolhar SI Anil Kumbar. The agitators set police jeep on fire and damaged three police vehicles, a DAR vehicle, the government and an SUV.

The police, however, brought the situation under control after a while.
Superintendent of Police Prakash Nikkam told reporters that he had no information on whether the tumtum driver rammed into the bus while trying to avoid police checking. A thorough investigation will be conducted into the accident, he added.