Pune: In town for sister's wedding, NRI dies in expressway accident

According to the police, the victim lost control of the vehicle

He was on one of his visits to India, in town to attend his sister's wedding. It became his last, after a road accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway claimed the 35-year-old engineer. While his wife, who was sitting next to him in the car, escaped with minor injuries, three others in the back, including an 11-year-old boy, have been admitted in hospital for treatment.

The deceased has been identified as Jitesh Jadhav, a resident of Nerul, who was working in a South Africa-based IT company. His wife Pallavi (32), a doctor, scraped through with cuts and bruises, and Shobha (58) and Indrajeet Bhosale (65), Jitesh's aunt and uncle, and their grandson Ninad Ramani are admitted in Lokmanya hospital in Nigdi. Kamshet police station has registered an accident case.

Loss of control
The incident took place yesterday at 8.30 am near Kamshet tunnel towards the Pune end. An Expressway control official said, "It appears that Jitesh was speeding, and hence, dashed into a truck that was ahead of him. He died on the spot. The Bhosales are critical, while Ninad received two stitches on his forehead."

"The accident affected vehicular movement in that lane, as a rescue operation had to be carried out. Two hours later, the traffic flow returned to normal," he added. Inspector IS Patil, in charge of Kamshet police station, said, "Jitesh is the son of retired police inspector Jagdish Jadhav. He and Pallavi came to India for the wedding on May 7, deciding to stay for a month to visit relatives and attend to his office in Pune."

Wake-up call
"The family is in shock, and wasn't able to give much details. Ninad told us that he and Jitesh had planned to go to Baramati for the weekend. The boy said he was fast asleep when he heard a loud noise; he woke up to the image of the car stuck to the truck from behind, and realised he had sustained injuries," Patil said.

"It appears that Jitesh lost control of the car and rammed into the truck ahead. We had to take the help of a crane and cutter to get the injured out from the vehicle. The impact of the collision was such that the car had got lodged in the rear of the truck."