A 26-year-old man died and six others were injured after a Tempo Traveller crashed into an electric pole on the central median of Nagarabhavi Outer Ring Road in Bengaluru early Sunday, with police attributing the fatal crash to high-speed and negligent driving under the influence of alcohol.
The accident occurred at around 1.30am near Sri Male Mahadeshwara Temple, according to Jnanabharathi traffic police. The vehicle, bearing registration number KA-41-C-7812, was travelling from Sumanahalli towards Nagarabhavi when the driver, identified by police as 28-year-old Ravi, lost control and rammed into the median pole.
The deceased, Manoj Kumar S, a resident of Laggere and an office assistant at a private firm, was travelling with friends to Mysuru for a one-day trip. He was thrown out of the vehicle during the impact and came under its wheels. Manoj was taken to Victoria Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.
Six other passengers were injured and shifted to hospitals for treatment. They were reported to be out of danger. Police registered a case against Ravi for rash and negligent driving and driving under the influence of alcohol.
Witnesses alleged that some youths had been performing wheelies in the area. Police ruled out that possibility and said the crash occurred while it was raining, with the driver allegedly operating the vehicle under the influence of alcohol. The police account places the immediate cause of the crash on the driver’s speed, negligence and loss of control.
The fatal collision was one of three accidents reported within a 500-metre stretch of the Outer Ring Road around midnight on Saturday. In another incident, a mini goods vehicle carrying food for an apartment was hit by a private bus and crashed. Further ahead, a Mitsubishi Canter struck the side wall of an underpass, damaging the barrier and hanging precariously over the bridge. No injuries were reported in either of those incidents.
The concentration of three crashes in the same stretch over a short period has brought renewed attention to the risks faced by road users on the Nagarabhavi section of the Outer Ring Road, although the supplied police account does not identify any wider road-design or lighting issue. The traffic police investigation into the fatal crash is continuing, with the registered case against the driver forming the basis of further action.
