Builder among 5 dead in accident

If it weren't for an impulsive decision to give the flyover ride a miss, then Dr Rajshekhar Iyer, medical director of Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), would not have lived to tell his tale. For he could as well have been in place of Vimalkumar Jain (64), chairman and managing director of Kumar Properties, who, along with four others, was killed in an accident involving a tanker, a car and a bike on the Nigdi flyover. A water tanker speeding towards the city from Nigdi lost course, jumped the divider on the Madhukar Pawle flyover bridge in Nigdi and then collided with the Mercedes Benz car of Jain and a motorcycle around 3.15 pm yesterday.

Dreary remains: Policemen try to extricate the bodies of the builder
and other occupants from the mangled remains of the car that was hit
by a water tanker on the Pawle flyover in Nigdi yesterday

Besides Jain, who was a resident ofu00a0 Napier Road in Camp, the accident claimed the lives of his driver Mahendra Hiranand Aher (43) of Wanawadi, real estate agent Sampat Bhimaji Ingle alias Guruji (63) of Walvekar Nagar, and two-wheeler riders Laxman Natu Thakar (51) and his wife Hansabai (45), both residents of Milind Nagar in Pimpri.u00a0 Another real estate agent, Shriram Mahadev Sapre (50), who was in Jain's car, received major injuries and is undergoing treatment. Thakar was working in the health department of the PCMC.

The Nigdi police registered a case of rash and negligent driving against the tanker driver, identified as Uttam Kisan Kamble (26) of Pimpri. He fled the spot after the mishap, but later surrendered at the Nigdi police station.
Before they took differentu00a0u00a0 routes, Dr Iyer was in a jeep in front of Jain's car. "I had to leave for Ravet as incidents of fish dying in the Pavana river were reported. When I reached close to the Nigdi flyover, on an impulse I decided not to take the flyover and instead took the road below. A few seconds later, I learntu00a0 about the unfortunate accident," Dr Iyer said.

Police Inspector Nandkishor Bhosale-Patil said: "The driver of the tankeru00a0-- heading towards the city at top speedu00a0-- lost control over his vehicle on the Pawle flyover. The tanker crossed the two lanes on its side, jumped the low-height divider, then crossed two lanes on the other side as well and rammed into Jain's Mercedes. The tanker also hit the bike on which Thakar was riding."

The impact crushed the car, while the two-wheeler was thrown afar. Local residents called the police and the fire brigade for help. The metal parts on the front side of the car had to be cut off to extricate the bodies of the victims stuck inside, the police said.

The victims were taken to a private hospital in Nigdi and five of them were proclaimed dead on arrival. The bodies were then sent to YCM hospital for post-mortem. Paramvir Singh, a contractor who worked with Kumar Properties, said: "VK Jain was going to Nigdi regarding a deal about a land plot. Sampat Ingle, who is a teacher in a reputed school, also worked as a land broker and was going with Jain for the deal."