JAIPUR: Three people died while six others were injured after an SUV ran over nine people on Jaipur’s Nahargarh Road late on Monday.
Jaipur Congress’ district vice-president Usman Khan, 62, who was at the wheels, was arrested on Tuesday. Jaipur Congress president R R Tiwari suspended Khan later in the day.
Police said Khan had been travelling at approximately 70km/h when his SUV crashed into four cars and six two-wheelers over a 500m distance on Nahargarh Hill, causing extensive damage. Additional DCP Bajrang Singh Shekhawat said the accident occurred near Nahargarh PS, where the SUV initially hit three people on a scooter. Witnesses said the SUV was uncontrolled as it moved through the narrow streets, causing pedestrians to flee. Residents chased the vehicle and stopped it near Foota Khurra, where an angry mob allegedly caught the driver and took him to Nahargarh PS. Khan was detained for questioning early on Tuesday.
While two people – Avdesh Pareek, 37, and Mamta Kanwar, 50, – died of injuries at SMS Hospital on Monday night, the third victim, Virendra Singh, 30, succumbed during treatment on Tuesday, Nahargarh SHO Rameshwari said. The injured were hospitalised, and two among them were in critical condition, police said.
Investigators were probing a possible connection to an earlier accident in the city’s MI Road area involving the same vehicle. “The series of collisions and the destruction across half a kilometre indicate that without intervention, the outcome could have been more severe,” a police officer said.
Officials said Khan owned an iron bed manufacturing factory in VKI area. The SUV was registered under this factory’s name.
