60-year-old dies chasing towing van in Kalyan

A 60-year-old resident of Kalyan lost his life on Wednesday afternoon while chasing a towing van that had taken away his car, parked near Kalyan station. The man, who is said to have been a heart patient, had come to see off a relative.

Madukar Kasare, a resident of Mharalgaon in Kalyan, had come to Kalyan station around 1.30pm to drop a relative off. He had parked his car near the Mahalaxmi hotel footpath, which is 100m away from Kalyan station. Since the area is a no-parking zone, the Kalyan traffic police's towing van reached the spot and started to tow the vehicle away.

After seeing off his friend, Kasare reached the spot and saw his car being towed away. He then spoke to the traffic constable at the spot and started to walk frantically behind the towing van. With the mid-afternoon sun at its peak, Kasare fainted at the spot and the auto-rickshaw drivers in the area attended to him. Some made him sniff onion and splashed water on his face, but to no avail. The drivers finally put him in one of the auto rickshaws and took him to Rukminibai hospital in Kalyan. However, the doctors there declared him dead on admission.

The traffic police say that the man was a heart patient who had had two heart attacks and had complained of dizziness earlier. "He was a retired Bank of Maharashtra official and we learnt during our inquiry that he had often complained of dizziness at work," said ACP Chandrashekhar Gole, Kalyan traffic police.

Gole also rejected allegations that Kasare died while chasing a speeding towing van. "It is a busy station area, where no vehicle can speed away. Kasare was walking towards the van when he fainted. We have registered a case of accidental death and the post-mortem reports that would reveal the cause of death are still awaited," he added.