LUCKNOW/VARANASI: The breaker-less road laid out to give a smooth ride to VIPs across Banaras Hindu University (BHU) is fast turning out to be a killer zone, courtesy reckless drivers.
Three major accidents within a week on the killer road substantiate the notion.
Notably, the maximum permissible speed limit for all kind of vehicles across the BHU campus spread in the 14-km periphery is just 30 km per hour.
On Saturday afternoon, a speeding SUV reportedly belonging to local BJP leader Ranveer Singh ran over two Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA-Final Year) students.
As the two students, identified as Rakesh and Anju Lata (physically challenged), had left the Faculty of Visual Arts on a motorbike for varsity’s Central Office, a speeding SUV mounted with the BJP flag and Ranveer Singh’s name on the rear glass rammed into Rakesh’s motorbike near Amphitheatre.
As per an eyewitness account of Paras working in BHU told TNIE that while Anju Lata, the pillion rider, was thrown away under the impact of SUV and sustained multiple injuries, Rakesh got entangled under the SUV’s wheels and was dragged around a few metres along with the four-wheeler.
Both the students were rushed to a hospital and were admitted to the Trauma Centre.
Rakesh, critical, was being treated for fractures in hands, ribs and other parts of the body.
“After the incident, four men present in the SUV left it there and escaped in another SUV that was following them. However, irate BHU students set the SUV ablaze with the motorbike still under it near the Law Faculty,” said Paras.
According to the IIT-BHU students who were present on the spot at the time of the accident, it was a routine affair to spot that particular SUV mounted with BJP flag and bearing Ranveer Singh’s name crisscrossing the campus in high speed.
An FIR was lodged against the occupants of the said SUV and they were booked under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) against unidentified accused at Lanka police station.
Meanwhile, the errant SUV driver was detained for questioning and cops have yet to trace other occupants of the four-wheeler.
In fact, the Saturday incident was third within a week on the same three-km killer stretch.
On Monday morning, father of Dr Amit Rastogi, professor, Orthopaedics department, IMS-BHU, died after being hit badly by a speeding motorbike during a morning walk. Both the outsiders were arrested.
On Sunday, while the campus was bustling with over 15,000 aspirants for various entrance examinations, two speeding motorcycles collided head-on injuring two men and a woman. All three were admitted to the BHU Trauma Centre.
According to the BHU Chief Proctor Dr OP Rai, in view of the frequency of accidents in the same zone, entry of four wheelers was banned from one of the four entry-exit points into the central varsity.
The varsity administration is likely to meet city administration to get an elaborate traffic plan for the campus along with penalties on the flouters.