A 56-year-old Hyderabad businessman was crushed to death in Balanagar after an overloaded goods van carrying steel pipes overturned while taking a U-turn and fell on his scooter, police said. The van driver has been taken into custody and a culpable homicide case has been registered against the driver, the vehicle owner and the person who booked the load.
The incident occurred around 3.30 pm on Thursday under the Balanagar flyover. The victim, identified as Prakash Pawar of Shapur, was travelling towards his gold smelting shop in Ameerpet when the goods carrier took a U-turn ahead of him, according to Balanagar Assistant Commissioner of Police P Naresh Reddy.
“After taking the U-turn, due to the heavy load, the goods van turned turtle and steel pipes fell on the scooter which was to the left of the van,” Reddy said. Pawar was trapped under the load and died at the spot, police said.
Local residents alerted the police after the crash. Balanagar law and order personnel and traffic police reached the location, removed the body and shifted it to the morgue in an ambulance. A crane was used to remove the steel pipes and clear the overturned vehicle before it was taken to the police station.
The crash took place on a road section with adequate width, and Balanagar traffic police said it did not cause a significant traffic disruption. The immediate clearance operation was nevertheless required to remove the pipes and the vehicle from the roadway.
Kukatpally Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police M Sudarshan said police had registered a case under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, relating to culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The case names the van driver, the owner and the person who booked the load for allegedly causing the death by overloading the vehicle.
The incident places attention on the risks created when goods vehicles carry loads that can destabilise them during ordinary road manoeuvres such as U-turns. In this case, the vehicle overturned as it negotiated the turn, after which the steel pipes fell onto a road user travelling alongside it.
Police said the accused driver was in custody. The vehicle and its load were taken to the police station as part of the investigation into the crash and the circumstances surrounding the overloading.
