HYDERABAD: In yet another tragic drunken driving accident, two techies and a marketing executive were killed when the car in which they were travelling lost control and hit three telephone poles and a tree before crashing into nearby shops at Saroornagar in the wee hours of Sunday.
The fourth passenger, who was wearing the seat belt, escaped with minor injuries. The incident occurred when the victims, who allegedly consumed alcohol at a bar in Gurramguda, and two other friends, who were incidentally following them on a bike, were on their way to Malakpet for a late night dinner.
According to Saroornagar Inspector E Srinivas Reddy, the deceased were identified as Madupati Vinayaka Mallikarjun (25) and Dharavath Sriram Naik (28) - both techies working for MNCs, and Pabba Sainath (27) - a marketing executive.
All three sustained multiple injuries and died on the spot while their friend M Kalyan, 27, who is working for a private firm, sustained minor injuries. “A case under sections 304A and 337 of IPC was registered. Rash driving and speeding could have led to the accident,” the inspector said.
Car suddenly veered to the left and crashed into shops, say friends
The victims, all residents of Saidabad and its surrounding areas, used to hangout at a snooker parlour in Gaddi Annaram. On Saturday night, after spending some time at the snooker parlour, they decided to go out for a party. While all the four decided to travel in Vinayak’s car, Sainath asked other friends — Shaik Gulzar Ahmed and Botta Yuva Mitra — follow them on his bike.
The six of them first went to Bhavani Bar & Restaurant at Gurramguda and consumed alcohol. Even after the bar was closed around midnight, they sat outside and continued to consume alcohol till about 1.15 am, after which they started for Malakpet.While Vinayak was driving the car, Sriram was seated next to him. Sainath was behind Vinayak and Kalyan sat in the rear left seat.
Mitra told Express that after crossing the Karmanghat X Roads, they noticed that the car suddenly veered towards the left and crashed into the shops. “We couldn’t understand what happened. We rushed to them and found them dead,” he said.
Mitra and Gulzar immediately alerted police and also informed families of the victims. Police said that the car, after knocking down three telephone poles, hit a tree on the right and then crashed into the shops. The car (TS 11 EG 0054), which is registered in Vinayak’s mother Shyamala’s name, has six pending challans, all for over speeding and dangerous driving.