Two brothers were killed when a speeding car rammed into their bike at Pallathuruthy bridge on the Alappuzha-Changanassery road, late night on Sunday. The deceased have been identified as Vavachan Joseph 55, Krathasseril house, Sanathanapuram, Alappuzha, and his brother Raju Joseph 46, who succumbed to injuries at the Alappuzha Medical College Hospital.
The car that collided with the bike sped away. Vavachan and Raju were returning after visiting their relatives at Pulimkunnu. A luxury car with Tamil Nadu registration hit on the bike, said Alappuzha Traffic Police.
The bike hit a lamp post on the bridge that broke and fell into the river. Vavachan was a retired sub-inspector of the Border Security Force. Raju was an employee of the United Nations at Africa.
He had flown down two weeks ago. Police sources say that speeding caused the accident. The absence of proper lighting and adequate security instructions on the bridge triggers a string of accidents in the area. Moreover, the straight AC road getting narrower on the bridge and humps found on both ends of the bridge are the other reasons cited by the police for the frequent accidents. The bodies were handed over to relatives after the postmortem examination at the Alappuzha Medical College Hospital.
The police went up to the scene and have retrieved a few fragments of the Audi car that is supposed to have caused the accident. Locals have also informed the police that they had seen a luxury car speeding towards Alappuzha.
However, it is believed that the car changed course and headed towards Changanassery. The police have set up cameras on the AC road to nab the culprits in the killer car.
Monday and Tuesday being holidays for the Hi-Tech Traffic Enforcement Wing of the police, pictures of the car could be obtained by Wednesday from the Wing that controls these cameras, informed traffic police officials.