Woman killed as truck hits bike on Godhni Road in Nagpur; angry crowd blocks road

A woman was killed after a truck hit a motorcycle on Godhni Road in Nagpur. The family was going to the market on the bike for Diwali shopping. The deceased was Ashwini alias Jyoti Pankaj Phalke, a resident of Bailwadi, whose age was given as 30.

According to the information available, Jyoti, her husband Pankaj and their 6-year-old son Advik set out on the bike at about 4.30 pm. In front of Garva Biryani on Jhingabai Takli Road, the driver of a speeding truck hit their vehicle hard from behind. The bike lost balance and all three fell onto the road with it. Pankaj and Advik fell to one side, but Jyoti came under the truck. She died on the spot after going under its rear wheel.

Advik suffered a head injury and was admitted to a nearby hospital. Pankaj received minor injuries. Local residents informed the police. Police have detained the truck driver, Jameel Khan Jamal Khan. A house preparing for the festival was plunged into grief, and 6-year-old Advik lost his mother.

As news of the accident spread, local residents and villagers gathered at the spot in large numbers. In anger they vandalised the truck and blocked the road. People said accidents had happened earlier on the Godhni route. Some time ago a B.Tech student had died on the same road. She was crushed by a truck even though heavy vehicles are barred from entering during the day. The second death angered people further. There was also resentment over potholes and encroachment by shopkeepers. The greatest anger was directed at the state of affairs around Garva Biryani, and some people also tried to vandalise the place.

Senior officers, including DIG (North) Vinita Sahu, DCP Annapurna Singh and Aditya Mirkhelkar, reached the spot. The crowd was unwilling to move and a traffic jam stretched about 3 km. People refused to accept any assurance and said the problem must be acted on immediately.

Police had considerable difficulty persuading the crowd. Finally, Nagpur Municipal Corporation Chief Engineer Leena Upadhyay was called. As people were angry about shopkeepers' encroachment, Upadhyay summoned the anti-encroachment squad and had action begun at once. The corporation team first cleared encroachments around the site, and then acted against other shopkeepers too. DCP Mirkhelkar assured strict arrangements to enforce the no-entry rule for heavy vehicles. Only then did the crowd clear the road. Traffic was halted for about 4 hours. The sudden action angered shopkeepers, who began protesting, and the tension continued late into the night.

Separately, on Tuesday morning another fatal accident occurred on Hingna Road. Priyanka Praveen More (35), a resident of Aarti Empire, Wardha Road, was a professor at YCCE college in the Wanadongri area. At about 10 am she was riding her two-wheeler, MH 49-CN 6893, to the college. As she moved from Zone Chowk towards the college, a truck driver hit her from behind and fled.

Local residents informed the police and Priyanka was taken to a nearby hospital, but doctors declared her dead on examination. MIDC police have registered a case against the unknown vehicle driver on the complaint of her colleague Jeevan Dehankar. Priyanka's family is in deep shock.