A tragic road accident near the Vidhipur flyover on the Jalandhar-Amritsar National Highway claimed the lives of three members of a family, while three young girls sustained serious injuries. The accident took place on Sunday morning around 10:00 AM. The collision was so intense that both the cars were left severely damaged and caused various injuries to the passengers.
How did the accident happen?
According to the information received, the family car Swift was parked on the highway side when an Innova allegedly coming from the wrong side hit the Swift from front. The Innova was said to be speeding on the wrong side that led to the collision. The hit claimed the life of 3 members of the family and 3 are seriously injured. While the Innova driver fled from the scene on the spot.
Identification of the victims
The victims were identified as Surinder Shukla (29), his wife Priyanka (27), and his mother Yavanti (65), all residents of Bilaspur village in Ludhiana district. The car carried 3 children as well. Anshika, Arpita and Manvi are seriously injured. Anshika and Arpita aged 13 and 8 respectively have broken both legs while Manvi aged 1 broke her arm and all three faced serious head injuries. Priyanka died on the spot but her husband and mother-in-law were taken to hospital for medical treatment. Unable to recover from the injuries, both of them lost their lives while undergoing treatment. Surinder lost his life at 8:00 PM while his mother breathed her last at 9:00 PM.
Identification of the accused
In the preliminary investigation of the police, details of the accused were found. The Innova driver was Mukesh Chopra, son of Inderpal Chopra residents of Jalandhar. Mukesh instead of taking the family to the hospital, escaped from the highway before police investigation. The car was under her mother Janki’s name. The accused is said to be the resident of Central Town, Jalandhar. According to the information, Mukesh is admitted in an ICU in a Jalandhar hospital. He had serious injuries on his chest and other parts of the body.
Alleges by the family
According to Maya Shukla, sister of the deceased, The deceased's family has alleged that the police failed to register their complaint for several hours after the accident. According to them, officers repeatedly pressured them to alter the complaint and sign a revised version. The family claimed that the complaint wrongly stated that the accident occurred because the Innova crossed the highway divider, whereas eyewitnesses and officials of the Sadak Suraksha Force (SSF) had maintained that the vehicle was travelling on the wrong side of the highway. Citing this discrepancy, the family refused to sign the complaint.
The family further claimed to possess an audio recording of a conversation with an SSF officer in which it was allegedly acknowledged that the Innova was coming from the wrong side.
Investigation by the police
Investigating Officer Pappu Gill of Kartarpur Police Station said that after shifting the injured to the hospital, the police had the damaged vehicles removed from the road and parked along the roadside to restore traffic movement.
He said that, prima facie, negligence on the part of the Innova driver appears to have caused the accident. However, the police added that allegations that the Innova was travelling on the wrong side of the highway are being investigated, and further action will be taken based on the findings of the inquiry.
Demands of the family
Maya Shukla, sister of the deceased demanded the government to look into the case. She informed that Surinder Shukla was the only breadwinner of the house and took care of two families. His elder brother had passed away a few years earlier. The deceased man was taking care of the expenses of the elder brother’s children as well who were also travelling in the car. Maya pleaded the government for financial assistance for expenses of the hospital and education of the three children.