Bareilly (UP), February 16
Senior Vice-President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Mr Balbir Singh Pannu and three more including a girl, died in an accident on the GT-Lucknow road under the Fatehganj (East) police station here this morning.

“Mr Pannu and three others were on their way to Lucknow from Bareilly in a Toyota Qualis (PB-02Y-8676) when a speeding bus from the opposite direction collided head on, killing all on the spot,” a Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Bareilly, Mr Bavesh Kumar told The Tribune.

Those killed had been identified as Nirmal Deep Kaur, Sukhsimratpal Singh, a junior accountant with the Central Cooperative Bank in Taran Tarn, who was driving the vehicle, and gunman Sukhvir Singh (ID No. 2799), the SSP said.

The incident occurred in the early hours between 5.30 a.m. and 6.00 a.m. near the rural area of Fatehganj (East), about 40 km from here.

The Police Control Room was informed about the incident around 7.00 a.m.

Soon after the incident, the SSP and other senior police officials rushed to the spot, even as the driver of the private bus (UP 53B 5851) abandoned the bus and fled.

According to the SSP, the impact of the collision was so severe that the front portion of the Qualis was completely crushed and its windscreen and windowpanes were shattered.

Soon after the police got information about the accident, the local SGPC members and other Sikh leaders were informed and the bodies shifted to the District Hospital in Bareilly for postmortem.

The local police has so far failed to identify the driver of the bus. Efforts are on to track him down.

“We are trying to identify and nab the driver of the bus as well as the owner of the vehicle,” Mr Bavesh Kumar said.

A Bench comprising Mr Justice K.T. Thomas and Mr Justice R.P. Sethi, hearing an appeal filed by the CBI, suspended the Madras High Court order which had stayed the trial proceedings pending an appeal filed by Ms Jayalalitha.