Mumbai: In the third suspected pothole-related death in over a week and fifth death in a month, 26-year-old Kedar Jadhav was run over by a tempo early Friday after his two-wheeler slipped due to a pothole near Gandhari Bridge in Kalyan. He died on the spot. The tempo driver escaped. The Khadakpada Police have registered a case of death due to negligence against the unidentified tempo driver.
Mr Jadhav, a sand supplier, was on his way home from his work site. According to police sources, the accident occurred near Gandhari Bridge at 2 am when Jadhav, a resident of Bhiwandi Taluka’s Nandkar village, was on the Mumbai-Agra highway, en route his residence in Nandkar when his two-wheeler's front wheel got stuck in a pothole and he fell down. Soon after, Mr Jadhav fell, a tempo following him at full speed ran over him accidentally, and killed him instantly. Police said that realising the accident victim had died the tempo driver did not stop and fled.
Balasaheb Kadam, senior police inspector of Khadakpada police station, said, “Mr Jadhav lost his balance and fell when the bike he was riding skidded over a pothole near Gandhari Bridge. We have registered a case of death due to negligence against the unidentified truck driver under section 304(A) of the Indian Penal Code.”
Mr Jadhav was in the business of supplying sand. Jadhav, who was in the business of supplying sand to construction sites, had got married to his longtime girlfriend last year in October.
While the police have registered a case against the driver, motorists say that the authorities are responsible for maintaining roads and should be held accountable for fatal accidents like this.
Earlier, in a suspected pothole-related incident in Thane district, a 45-year-old man was crushed to death by a truck after he allegedly stepped into a ditch after stumbling on Haji Malang Road in Kalyan on Wednesday. On Saturday, a bus crushed 43-year old Manisha Bhoir while she was riding pillion on a two-wheeler that hit a pothole in Kalyan.
