The owner of the water tanker which had killed a four-year-old girl in HSR Layout area has been arrested along with two others by the city police. The two others include the driver of the vehicle and another person who was the proxy for the actual driver.
The arrested are identified as R Anand, 47, of Kasavanahalli, the owner of the tanker, MD Rakib, 23, of Bommanahalli, the actual water tanker driver and N Ramesh Babu, 36, of Kasavanahalli, the proxy.
Prathiksha Bhat, daughter of Khem Raj Bhat, a resident of Serenity Layout was killed in the accident on Thursday afternoon at Shwetha Residency Apartment located about 100 metres away from the girl's house, at 12.10 pm. The girl, who was playing outside her house, had strolled near Shwetha Residency Apartment, where a water tanker had come to fill the sump.
The driver of the tanker was reversing the vehicle and knocked down the girl. The right rear wheel of the vehicle ran over the girl's head, crushing her to death. The accused driver sped away after the incident.
Prathiksha Bhat's father worked as a security guard earlier but has no job currently while her mother works as domestic help.
The HSR Layout traffic police had summoned Anand to bring the driver. Anand instead of bringing Rakib to the police had arranged Babu as the proxy after promising him financial help.
"During the course of investigations, Babu spilled that he was not the actual driver and he was the proxy. Following this revelation, the police managed to arrest Rakib and arrested all three persons on Friday. Apart from the case pertaining to the accident, another case has been registered against the tanker owner and Rakib for trying to mislead the police," said an officer on part of investigations.
Further investigations are on.