Hyderabad: 2 drunks flee cops, run over by truck

Hyderabad: Two youngsters, who were trying to avoid drunk driving checks by traffic police, were killed in a road mishap at Bapu Ghat near Langar Houz on Sunday midnight.

The duo, natives of Budvel, Ranga Reddy district, had allegedly got drunk at a local bar and were driving back to their native place, carrying a bottle of alcohol when the incident happened. When they saw the temporary installations placed on the road by the traffic police from a distance, they turned the bike around and were driving on the wrong side of the road to escape the cops. A speeding truck coming from the opposite direction rammed the bike. Due to the impact of the collision, the Passion Plus bike caught fire. G. Rajesh, 24, who was driving the bike, died on the spot, while his friend Madireddy Srinivas, 19, was brought dead to a local hospital.

Youth had come to buy flowers
Police said that negligence of both bike rider and the truck driver caused the mishap. “The truck driver was also drunk and was speeding,” said Tolichowki traffic police inspector Sathish Kumar, who witnessed the incident.

Rajesh, a contract employee at Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU), and Srinivas, who works for a private drinking water supply firm, were friends and neighbours. They had come to Hyderabad to buy flowers on the eve of Hanuman Jayanti.

The mishap occurred at around 12.20 am. “They probably visited a local bar and got drunk. On the way, we had our team to check for drunk drivers. Seeing us on the road, they tried to flee by driving in the opposite direction,” said Sathish Kumar, describing the mishap. “Meanwhile, a speeding truck was coming towards them. The truck hit the bike, both riders were flung into the air and fell between the truck and the police crane stationed there. Rajesh died on the spot. We tried to shift the second victim to hospital with the help of emergency services, but he too died on the way,” the inspector added.

The bike they were travelling on, caught fire. “The front portion of the bike was entirely gutted in the fire,” said another police official.