M A I N   N E W S

6 Punjab cops die in road accident
Gurminder Singh Grewal & Sanjay Bambroo

Fatal ride Nearly 17 policemen, including four woman constables, were travelling in the Scorpio police van that was meant to carry 10 persons, including the driver The policemen were reportedly ordered to report for parade at 6.45 am Several policemen, who had no vehicles, were forced to go in police vehicles Some policemen rued that the tyres of police vehicles are in bad shape which can not be changed without permission from higher officials

Khamano/Bassi Pathana, March 18
Six policemen were killed and eleven were injured in a road accident near Lohari village on the Bassi-Sanghol link road here this morning. The mishap took place when the driver of the overcrowded police vehicle they were travelling in, in order to avoid head-on collision with a truck, lost control of the vehicle and a hit a tree.

Six policemen died on the spot while 11 injured were rushed to the civil hospital, Fatehgarh Sahib, and Khamano. Six critically injured policemen have been referred to the PGI, Chandigarh. Most of the victims are stated to be in the 21-26 age group. Impact of the accident was so severe that the policemen standing on the rear of the police van were thrown out of the vehicle, causing severe head injuries resulting in the death of policemen on the spot.

The victims have been identified as Head Constable Manjinder Singh, a resident of Amritsar; Raj Kaur (23), a resident of Panjkoha village; Gurpreet Singh (21), a resident of Sidhupur Kalan; Amandeep Singh (26), a resident of Marri Pannuan village, Gurdaspur district; Varinder Partap Pandey (40), a resident of ward No 9 Khamano; and Kesar Singh, a resident of ward No 9 Khamano.

Those injured have been identified as Kulwant Singh (ASI), Rohit Kumar, Inderjeet Singh, driver Sukhdev Singh, Sukhvir Singh, Jagdeep Singh, Raman Kumar, Amandeep Kaur and Pawandeep Kaur and Sukhvir Singh (all constables).

An eyewitness, who works at a nearby liquor vend, said he woke up after hearing a loud thud about 6.30 am. He rushed to the site after hearing the shrieks of a woman constable, who had escaped with minor injuries. He and others dialled the ambulance service, but there was no response.

A constable reached the spot and reported the matter to his seniors at Kher Noudsingh police station, who arranged assistance. The woman constable was pulled out by breaking open the door of the vehicle.

Residents of the nearby village, in the meantime, also reached there and arranged vehicles to shift the injured policemen to the hospital. The ambulance arrived nearly 45 minutes after the incident.

Senior police officers and those of the district administration, including Deputy Commissioner Yashvir Mahajan, IG Gurpreet Deo, and DIG Ludhiana Range MF Farooqui, visited the accident site.

When questioned why another police van was not provided to the policemen, who were slated to attend the parade at the civil lines at Fatehgarh Sahib, DIG MF Farooqui said he would investigate the matter. Farooqui further said he was not aware that the driver of the vehicle was on night duty and he was again called to ferry the policemen for parade. The bodies of the victims were handed to their family members after post mortem.

Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal, his deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal and others expressed shock over the incident. Directing the district civil and police administrations to provide support to the families of the victims and treatment to the injured, the CM said the government would provide all help to the families. He announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased.