Dehradun car accident: Sole survivor stable but can't speak, truck driver not at fault, say police

DEHRADUN: Police are consulting experts regarding potential legal action in a tragic accident that claimed the lives of six youngsters, including three women and one person severely injured as preliminary probe suggests that the ‘truck driver was not at fault' and the car owner died in the accident.
Inspector KC Bhatt, station house officer at Cantt police station, who is investigating the accident, told TOI that they are "yet to receive any complaint from the family members of the victims that could warrant case registration".
"Initial investigation indicated that the container truck driver was not at fault, as the speeding multi-utility vehicle (MUV) collided with the lorry's rear left section, a known blind spot in large commercial vehicles. Also, since the young car owner who was operating the vehicle lost his life in the incident, he cannot be booked under the existing law. We are consulting with legal experts to explore potential courses of action in this case," said Bhatt.
The sole survivor, Siddhwesh Agrawal, remains hospitalised but stable. "Due to his serious head injury, he is unable to provide a statement about the incident, and it may take time before he can speak with investigators," Bhatt said.
On Thursday, police examined the CCTV footage in which the MUV could be seen moving at a normal speed while passing from Rajpur roads, Saharanpur Chowk, Balliwala and Ballupur.
"However, while passing from Ballupur to ONGC intersection, it suddenly accelerated, which led to the accident. The footage also showed the truck moving at a normal speed as it covered a distance of 1.5km in 6 minutes till the accident spot where the MUV hit it from behind," said a statement released by the district police on Thursday evening.
Meanwhile, in a separate accident one person died and three others were injured after five vehicles collided after a container truck's sudden braking on the Delhi-Dehradun highway near the Asharodi area police check post on Wednesday night.
Sukhdev Singh, 49, a mini-truck driver from Saharanpur, died in the incident while his son, Sudhanshu, 22, sustained injuries along with two state sales tax officers, Suman Das and Naveen Mehar, who were stationed at the checkpost. The three injured persons are receiving treatment at a city hospital. The Clement Town police station is investigating the matter.