Police form SIT to probe Jaipur highway accident

The fire spread so quickly. We looked out of the window and saw flames all around KHATIK, Survivor

- Senjuti Sengupta and Sohail Khan

JAIPUR/UDAIPUR: Rajasthan police on Saturday formed a six-member special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the Jaipur highway accident that claimed the lives of 14 people, officials familiar with the matter. The probe team will be led by Jaipur deputy commissioner of police (DCP), West, Amit Kumar Budaniya. The accident took place on Friday morning when a truck crashed into an LPG tanker on the Jaipur-Ajmer highway, triggering a fireball that engulfed close to 34 vehicles.

"An SIT was formed to investigate the terrible accident due to a collision between a tanker and a truck on Friday. The SIT will probe all the necessary aspects based on the FIR (first information report) lodged in the case and will report to the senior officials," an order issued by the Jaipur police commissionerate said.

The police on Saturday lodged a case of negligent driving under sections 281 (rash and negligent driving), 106 (1) (causing death by rash and negligent act), 125 (A) (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety), and 125 (B) (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

According to officials, the accident took place around 5.25am. The Jaipur-bound LPG tanker was coming from Ajmer and tried to take a U-turn on the highway to move towards the Agra Road. While taking the turn, an Ajmer-bound truck from Jaipur hit the tanker from behind. The accident caused a gas leak, which immediately caught fire, they added.

Drivers of both vehicles were killed in the accident. "On Saturday, we identified the truck driver as Muhammed Shahabuddin from Rae Bareli, while the driver of the tanker was unidentified," Budaniya said. "We could not trace the owners of the two vehicles yet as they were completely destroyed. Several victims and vehicles remain unidentified," said Budaniya.