Three people were killed and two children were injured in a collision between a car and a private bus on the Pune–Nashik highway at 11.15pm on Sunday, police said on Monday. The impact left the car mangled, killing its three occupants on the spot. (Representational image)
The accident occurred near the Indraprastha petrol pump near Eklahare village in Ambegaon tehsil when a speeding car allegedly crossed the divider on a bridge slope and rammed into an oncoming bus. The impact left the car mangled, killing its three occupants on the spot.
The victims were identified as Mallikarjun Shivraj Ambegave, 42, his wife Aarti Ambegave, and Lata Balu Tuplondhe, all residents of Valherkarwadi in Chinchwad. The two children—Mrunal Ambegave and Prem Ambegave—are undergoing treatment.
Shrikant Kankal, police inspector at Manchar police station, said, “Preliminary investigation suggests the car, travelling from Nashik towards Pune, crossed the divider and entered the opposite lane, leading to a head-on collision with the bus.”
Based on a complaint filed by bus driver Raju Chatru Rathod, 38, a resident of Nandurbar, an FIR was registered at Manchar police station in the early hours of Monday.
Police have booked the car’s deceased driver, Mallikarjun Ambegave, under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (106(1), 281, 125(a)(b), 324, 4 and 5) and Section 184 of the Motor Vehicles Act for rash and negligent driving.
Police said further investigation is underway to ascertain the exact cause of the accident, though rash driving is suspected to be the primary reason behind the crash.