21-year-old tempo driver killed in dumper hit-and-run in Mankhurd

MUMBAI: A 21-year-old tempo driver died, and five passengers suffered injuries in a hit-and-run incident after an unidentified dumper hit his vehicle on Sion-Panvel highway in Mankhurd. Police said the dumper was taking a U-turn in the middle of the road when the accident took place.
The complainant, Bhagwan Damu Kamble, 58, a head constable attached with the Mankhurd police station, was on duty when he received a call from the control room that there was an accident on Sion-Panvel Highway on the north bound stretch near the old forest check post in Mankhurd and police assistance was required.
Kamble along with other policemen reached the spot and, after inquiring with people, learnt that a driver of an unidentified dumper took a U-turn in the middle of the road because of which a tempo (MH47BL 1327) coming from behind crashed into it. The tempo driver sustained severe injuries while five passengers – all vegetable vendors – who were going to the Vashi Market, were severely injured.
They were rushed to Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar by the police. As the tempo driver Sonu Krishna Kumar Gaud, 21, was in critical condition, he was shifted to the Sion Hospital, where he was declared dead. The injured vegetable vendors, who sustained minor injuries, left the hospital without informing the police. They were from Malad and Kandivali area, said a police official.
The dumper driver had fled with his vehicle from the spot after the incident. The Mankhurd police have registered a case against the driver as he is responsible for the death of the tempo driver. “We have been checking footage of CCTV cameras installed on the highway. The dumper fled towards Vashi. We will soon nab the dumper driver,” said senior inspector Mahadev Koli of Mankhurd police station.