A 65-year-old retired Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) employee was killed and three others were seriously injured during their morning walk at LAD Square after they were run over by a mini-truck carrying milk, on Tuesday. The mini-truck was earlier hit by a speeding Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus due to which it went out of control. The deceased was identified as Sunil Anandrao Jadhav (65), a resident of Corporation Colony.

 

He retired from the NMC’s Octroi Department and had worked as the personal assistant to several former Municipal Commissioners, including Dr T Chandrashekhar. He suffered serious injuries in the accident and died while undergoing treatment. According to police, a white Tata Intra milk transport vehicle (MH-31/GD-0585) was travelling from Ram Nagar towards Abhyankar Nagar. At the same time, an MSRTC bus (MH-40/Y-5127) was coming from Shankar Nagar Square and was heading towards Ambazari T-Point. When both the vehicles reached LAD Square, the bus hit the Tata Intra. The collision caused the milk van lose control. It then ran into three morning walkers who were standing near the roadside at the junction. Besides Jadhav, the injured have been identified as Sunil Kushalrao Gudde (62) of Gandhi Nagar, Ambazari; Shailendra Marotrao Kingaonkar (62) of Corporation Colony and Abhishek Durgaprasad Jagne (23), driver of Tata Intra, a resident of Khaparkheda on Koradi Road.

 

All the injured were taken to hospital for treatment. The accident caused panic at the busy square. Locals and motorists rushed to help the injured before the police arrived. Traffic was affected for some time as the damaged vehicles blocked the road. Police later cleared the vehicles and restored normal traffic. Police said that they are looking into whether overspeeding, failure of brakes led to the crash. Statements of eyewitnesses are being recorded and CCTV footage from nearby cameras will also be checked. Jadhav was known as a dedicated and soft spoken employee. During his service in the NMC, he worked closely with several Municipal Commissioners and was well known among civic officials. Police have registered a case, and further investigation is in progress.