BENGALURU: Senior traffic police officers on Friday inspected the spot at Chikkajala on Ballari road, where an SUV had crashed into a cab on Thursday, and instructed National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials to take measures to prevent such accidents. Two women and a cab driver died on the spot after the overspeeding SUV collided into the cab on the other carriageway after jumping the median.
Speaking to TNIE, Joint Commissioner (Traffic) B R Ravikanthe Gowda said, “We have given clear instructions to NHAI to take all necessary steps, including installing proper lighting on the road and raising the height of the road median to prevent accidents. We also warned them that legal action will be taken against them if they fail to do it immediately.” Bharath B R (22), who was driving the SUV, told the police that he did not notice the median due to heavy rain and that he lost control over the vehicle as it was at high speed. The police also have collected blood samples of Bharath and are not ruling out that he was under the influence of alcohol. A case of negligence and reckless driving has been registered by Chikkajala traffic police against Bharath.
Purnima Ravindran, (63) and her daughter Lakshmi Ravindran, (37), hailing from West Bengal, were heading to the airport when the accident occurred. The cab driver Raghavendra (46), a resident of Bannerghatta, also died. Lakshmi, who was residing in London, had come to Bengaluru to attend yoga classes along with her mother. Bharath and his friend Vikas, who were in the SUV, sustained injuries. On Friday, the bodies of the deceased were handed over to the families after post-mortem.