Lucknow, April 26
Three persons sleeping on pavement were killed on the spot, while six others were seriously injured when Kashif Abbas, son of Ghazipur MLA Shadab Fatima, in an inebriated condition, drove his vehicle over them near the Parivartan chowk last night.
One more reportedly succumbed to his injuries today. While sources claim that at least two of the injured had died at the trauma centre at the Chatrapati Sahuji Maharaj University Hospital, the police maintained that only one more person had succumbed to his injuries.
Kashif Abbas, who was driving a silver Tata Safari vehicle (UP 32 CA 7640), was arrested on the spot and charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, driving without a valid licence and misuse of car having a beacon light.
The Tata Safari bearing the ‘vidhayak’ nameplate was coming at a high speed from the Hazratganj side. It first knocked down two motorcyclists right in front of Clarks Awadh Hotel.
After that the person behind the wheel lost control over the vehicle and it climbed the pavement hitting the paan kiosk of Chand Babu, which was still open, and then crushing the persons sleeping on the pavement to pulp before coming to a halt, hitting an electric pole.
Kashif, who was reportedly drunk, admitted that he was returning from a cocktail party at a friend’s place. Beer cans were seen lying on the car floor. He had even tried to mislead the angry crowd, which had gathered at the site by concealing his identity and claiming to be the son of the president of the UP Consumer Cooperative Union.
