The Crime Detection Branch (DCB) of Vadodara city recorded a total of 75 cases of drunk driving in special checks conducted over two nights on Thursday and Friday. Despite being a “dry state”, another 16 prohibition cases have been recorded against people found in possession of alcohol in the same period.
The special drive, launched on Thursday, came after two consecutive incidents of drunk driving were reported on Diwali night and the next day. In the first incident, the accused, who was allegedly in an inebriated state, crashed his vehicle into a family of laborers sleeping on a footpath in Avdhut Phatak area of Manjalpur, killing a four-year-old boy on the spot and leaving four others injured. The accused, Nitin Jha, tried to escape from the spot, but the onlookers chased the car and caught him near Akshar Chowk, assaulting him until the police reached the spot.
Ashok Rathva, deputy commissioner of police, said: “The driver ran over the family sleeping on the pavement with the car, leaving the four-year-old boy under the wheels. He died instantly. The complainant, his wife, sister and brother-in-law were also injured in the accident which occurred around midnight… The police also recovered a bottle of liquor from inside the vehicle… The car is registered in the name of a friend of the accused”.
In the second accident on Wednesday night, the accused driver, Harsh Kashyap, 24, who was allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol, crashed his sports utility vehicle into some stationary two-wheelers near Subhanpura and moved forward to escape from the spot, only to crash into more vehicles in the racecourse circle before finally hitting a divider and stopping. Locals at the spot also took Kashyap out and allegedly beat him up until the police reached the spot.
Himanshukumar Varma, deputy commissioner of police for crime, told The Indian Express that apart from registering cases against criminals, a thorough verification of their violation history is also being carried out.
He further said, “We have a total of around 10 violators who have a history of traffic violations…In cases where the violations are of serious nature, the licenses will be suspended for a specified period.”
Varma added that the special campaign to combat drunk driving will continue during the extended holiday weekend. “People who break the law and also risk the lives of other citizens by driving under the influence of alcohol or violating traffic rules will not be spared. We have started a campaign for the last two days, and more than 40 cases of drunk driving were filed on Friday night alone… Those who play with the safety of others during moments of excitement will not be spared. The history of repeat offenders is being investigated and will be initiated actions to obtain your driving licenses. seized,” he said.
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On Friday night, a tempo loaded with gunny bags overturned outside the busy Sayajibaug garden area after the driver, who was driving in a suspected drunken state, lost control of the vehicle. No injuries were reported in the accident.
According to data from SSG hospital in Vadodara, between October 18 and 25, a total of 337 emergency cases were reported to the hospital. Resident doctor Dr Hitendra Chauhan said, “We received 250 cases of road accidents and 17 burn cases. Of them, 12 were fatal accidents… one burn case from Karjan, in which the patient succumbed to injuries. During Diwali week, the emergency department of SSG hospital functioned at full capacity.”