BHOPAL: Ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each has been announced by Madhya Pradesh chief minister Dr Mohan Yadav to the next of kin of the four Kanwariyas who were crushed to death by a speeding car in Gwalior district on Tuesday-Wednesday intervening night.
Four men, including the driver and owner of the car have so far been detained by the Gwalior district police and booked for causing death by negligence.
According to a Gwalior district police official, the car bearing the registration number MP09WD0226 was owned by a Gwalior resident, but illegally rented to another man. Five men were boarding the car from Gwalior city to Dabra town of Gwalior district to be part of a party on Wednesday, when the tyre of the speeding car burst, causing the car to become uncontrollable and run over the four Kanwariyas fatally.
Four men hailing from two families identified as Vakil (40) Ramesh (38) Dinesh (21) and Chhotu (18), all residents of a single village, were fatally run over by a speeding car, which lost control following a tyre burst. In addition to the four fatalities, two other Kanwariyas sustained injuries in the incident.
The foursome was part of a 13-strong group of Kanwariyas, who were returning to their village after fetching water in their Kanwar (decorated bamboo pole with two water pots) for Lord Shiva’s Jalabhishek.
The killer mishap happened on the Gwalior-Shivpuri Link Road at around 1.30 am, when a group of Kanwariyas, walking in a line on the roadside, were returning to their village Simaria Tanka, after filling water in their Kanwars from the Bhadvana Lake.
Suddenly the tyre of a speeding car burst, after which the driver lost control of the car, which ran over the group of Kanwariyas. While three Kanwariyas were killed on the spot, another Kanwariya died later at the JAH Hospital in Gwalior city.
Two Kanwariyas were hurt in the incident, one of them is stated critical at the hospital in Gwalior city.
The spot where the mishap happened was around 35 km from the village of the Kanwariyas. The water fetched from the Bhadavna Lake was to be used for Lord Shiva’s Jalabhishek in the village on Wednesday.
One of the surviving Kanwariyas said the tyre of the speeding car (having registration number MP09WD0226) burst, after which the uncontrolled car ran over the Kanwariyas before overturning in a ditch. Those boarding the car fled from the spot after the deadly mishap.
