Tipsy CMC ex-chief mows down four pedestrians

Bangalore, Jul 17: Four pedestrians were killed and six injured when a former president of Bommanahalli City Municipal Council ploughed his luxury car into a pavement in Parappana Agrahara here on Monday night.

The speeding Land Rover (KA 51 MD 9394) driven by 'Bar' Krishnappa, allegedly in an inebriated condition, rammed the road median, swerved to the right and ran over people walking on the footpath at around 10.30 pm. Krishnappa escaped under the cover of darkness.

The deceased have been identified as Pushparani and Indrani (both 45), Vijaya Kumar (35) and Raja Nayak (23) – all residents of Parappana Agrahara. While three were killed on the spot, Nayak died of his injuries on Tuesday.

According to Natesan, an eye-witness, the speeding car proceeding towards Hosur Road took a left turn and entered the road leading to the house of Krishnappa.

Lost control

However, the driver lost control of the vehicle which rammed the road median and knocked down the pedestrians. The push carts of vegetable vendors parked on the footpath were destroyed in the accident. The car came to a halt after ramming a tree.

“The spot presented a gory scene with victims lying in a pool of blood and screaming for help. It took me some time to come to my senses. We immediately alerted the police,” Natesan told Deccan Herald.

Indrani and?Pushparani were cousins. Pushparani and her husband Janakaraj had come to the City to distribute wedding cards of their son. Janakaraj escaped with minor injuries.

The injured have been identified as Lalithamma, 44, Mallesh, 45, Janakaraj, 58, M Rekha, 26, Rajesh, 26 and Harish, 23, all residents of Channakeshavanagar. According to police, all the injured except Janakaraj are critical. The bodies were handed over to the relatives after post-mortem at St John's Hospital. A case has been registered against Krishnappa under Section 304 IPC?(culpable homicide not amounting to murder) at the Parappana Agrahara police station.

B? Dayananda, Additional Commissioner (Traffic and Security), said a special team has been formed to trace Krishnappa. He said police have some clues on the whereabouts of Krishnappa. He said the traffic police would strengthen law enforcement during night and deploy interceptors to check overspeeding vehicles on the outskirts of the City.