Man driving daughter to Class 12 exam centre mowed down by truck, mob goes on rampage

Nagpur: A 52-year-old man driving his teenage daughter to the Class 12 boards exam centre was mowed down by a speeding truck allegedly driven on the wrong side near the Mohapa Road-MIDC bridge in Umred police limits early Thursday. While the man was crushed to death, his daughter was tossed off the bike and died of critical head injuries. The crash triggered outrage with villagers setting the truck ablaze and pelting stones at a police vehicle, which rushed to the site after an SOS on the helpline. Police registered a non-bailable offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the truck driver.As per police, the accident occurred around 10.30am when a yellow truck driven by 27-year-old Praful Bhoyar, a resident of Bhuyar village in Bhandara district, allegedly sped in the wrong direction and collided head-on with the motorcycle carrying three residents of Mohapa in Umred taluka of Nagpur district. Subhash Bhiwankar, 52, and his daughter Tanvi, 16, died on the spot. A relative, Vanshika Narule, 17, who too was riding pillion, sustained minor injuries. After being alerted, Umred police reached the spot and found the truck engulfed in flames and the driver being assaulted with sticks and rods. Police rescued Bhoyar and placed him in their vehicle for safety, but the mob began hurling stones at the police vehicle, damaging it.A case was registered against Bhoyar under BNS sections for rash driving, culpable homicide not amounting to murder and relevant provisions of Motor Vehicles Act. Further investigation is under way at Umred police station.Senior police officials, including Nagpur Rural SP Harssh A Poddar and the sub-divisional police officer of Umred, visited the spot and met the bereaved family and villagers. A meeting was later convened with representatives of local gravel quarries and stone crushers, who frequently use the route, along with the victims' family members. Immediate financial assistance was extended to the family.Taking note of repeated accidents on Umred-Mohapa Road and complaints over heavy vehicle movement, SP Poddar ordered curbs on heavy traffic between 8am and 8pm. An official diversion order is expected shortly, and police said compliance will be monitored.The incident once again spotlighted concerns over rash driving, overloading and road safety on rural highways, with residents hoping the new restrictions will make the accident-prone stretch safer.