Gujarat: Taluka panchayat member, two others killed in accident

Three persons, including a taluka panchayat member of the BJP and his wife, were killed after their mini-truck, which broke down on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Highway in Gujarat's Valsad district, was first hit by a truck and then by a luxury bus in the early hours of Friday, said police.

The deceased were identified as BJP leader Mukesh Dhodi (45), his wife Kalpana (42), and their employee Hiten Halpati.

Dhodi was into the business of providing truck-mounted DJ music systems and was elected as a member of Umargam taluka panchayat of Valsad district from Kanadu, his native village, they said.

When the trio was returning to Kanadu from Vapi in their mini-truck, the vehicle broke down at around 3 am near Bhilad Railway crossing on the NH-48 and did not start despite several attempts by Dhodi, said Sub Inspector of Bhilad police station, Bhagvatsinh Rathod.

''To start the vehicle, Halpati got down and started pushing it, while the couple was in the cabin of the mini-truck. Suddenly, a truck hit their vehicle from behind, killing Halpati on the spot and pushing their mini-truck on the other side of the road,'' said Rathod.

Before the couple could save themselves, a luxury bus hit the front portion of their mini-truck, killing Dhodi and his wife on the spot, the police officer said.

Ten passengers of the bus received minor injuries, while its conductor, who was also wounded in the crash, has been hospitalized, said Rathod.

A case of rash driving and causing death by negligence has been lodged against the unidentified truck driver, who fled after the accident, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)