KRISHNAGIRI: Three persons, including a senior IAS officer were killed on the spot, when the car in which they were travelling collided with a lorry near Krishnagiri on Wednesday.
According to sources, Shanthini Kapoor IAS, who was serving as the Principal Secretary for Special Programme Implementation, was travelling in the car along with her sister Petrisha, brother-in-law Richard and their daughter Hana Christie, while Sub Inspector Selvaraj attached to Prohibition Enforcement Wing in Annanagar, Chennai, was at the wheel. Shanthini and her relatives were on their way to Hosur from Chennai to visit another relative.
When the car was nearing Kattinaickenapalli on NH-47 around 3.15 pm, Selvaraj lost control of the vehicle and rammed into the median. In the impact, the car broke through the median and landed on the other side of the highway. It then collided with a lorry that was coming from the opposite direction. While Shanthini, Richard and Selvaraj died on the spot, Hana Christie and Petrisha sustained grievous injuries. On information, Krishnagiri Collector T P Rajesh and SP P Kannammal rushed to the spot. The bodies were retrieved and sent to the Krishnagiri GH for post-mortem, while the injured were rushed to a private hospital in Bengaluru for treatment. Around the same time, another car coming from Hosur rammed into the rear portion of the same lorry. A Hosur-based businessman Sherief and his family was travelling in the car to Tirupattur. However, they escaped with minor injuries. Traffic was disrupted for about half an hour.