Five mowed down in Kapurthala hit-and-run, kin allege foul play
An unidentified heavy vehicle on Monday crushed five residents of Khiranwali village to death on the Kapurthala-Goindwal Sahib road.
An unidentified heavy vehicle on Monday crushed five residents of Khiranwali village to death on the Kapurthala-Goindwal Sahib road.
While a case has been registered under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 279 (rash driving) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Fattudhinga police station, the kin of the deceased are suspecting foul play.
The accident occurred around 4 am when all five pedestrians were on their way to gurdwara Baba Hathan Sahib. A granthi of the gurdwara was the first to spot the bodies and informed other villagers about the accident.
The deceased were identified as Narinder Kaur, 55, Kulwant Kaur, 54, Kulwinder Kaur, 56, Harjinder Kaur, 57 and Balwinder Singh, 30.
Police have failed to identify the vehicle despite a surveillance camera installed at a fuel station near the accident spot.
Balwinder’s uncle Inderjeet Singh alleged foul play behind the incident. “It doesn’t appear an accident case. Only heads of all five victims have been crushed. There are no other injury marks on bodies. Police should carry out a thorough probe,” he said.
A passerby, Santokh Singh, said he saw some tyre marks near the accident spot.
Sultanpur Lodhi MLA Navtej Singh Cheema and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bibi Upinderjit Kaur met the families of the victims. Cheema pressed for a thorough investigation into the case.
The autopsy was conducted at the civil hospital and the report will be submitted to the court.
Kapurthala senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rajinder Singh said the investigation was on and they were trying to identify the vehicle through CCTV footage.