Car mows down 4, tension grips Krishnagiri

Krishnagiri district police said that two cars — one each with Tamil Nadu and Karnataka registration numbers — were racing towards Bengaluru when the accident took place at Kandhikuppam near Krishnagiri.

According to the police, the car with Karnataka registration rammed the other vehicle, following which the latter knocked down a bike, a bicycle and a moped before mowing down a few pedestrians. The vehicle stopped after hitting a parapet wall.

Three people, including two plus one students S Barath Chamundi (17) and his cousin S Gokul (17) of Kandhikuppam and Vanaja (45) of Mallapadi, died on the spot. Villagers rescued the injured Dharman (40), Srisilendran (14), Madeswaran (45), Divakaran (14), Rajkumar (35), Muniraj (40) and Aswin (21) and rushed them to the Krishnagiri Government Hospital. But, Dharman died there taking the toll to four.

Agitated over the incident, more than 500 people from Kandhikuppam and nearby villages torched the car from Karnataka and damaged the Chennai car. They also blocked a road alleging that accidents because of speeding vehicles were increasingly claiming lives of villagers and demanded construction of an over bridge there. They also torched tyres on either side of the road, affecting traffic on the highway.

Superintendent of Police (SP) of Krishnagiri District Mahesh Kumar and Deputy Collector Arun tried to pacify the villagers and asked them to clear the road, but in vain. Vehicles piled up for more than an hour for about 3 km on the road. The police then resorted to a lathi charge to clear them. Following this, a section of the protesters pelted stones at them.

It took nearly two hours for the police to get things under control and traffic to resume.

Fire and rescue personnel doused the flames and cleared the damaged car and flaming tyres from the road.

Minister A R Balakrishna Reddy and District Collector Kathiravan consoled the victims and their families. Efforts are on to nab the drivers of the cars, said the police.