Thorny bush on culvert could be the key reason for accident involving minister Harshwardhan Patil’s sports utility vehicle on Pune-Baramati road early on Sunday
Tushar and Vishal Kanherkar, the victims in the goods carrier which collided with state cooperation minister, Harshwardhan Patil’s car, a Toyota Fortuner on Pune-Baramati road on Sunday, were left in a critically injured state at the accident spot for a good 90 minutes.
This even as the minister, his wife Bhagyashri, driver Shivaji Patil and personal assistant Kishor Gavas were rushed off instantly by the minister’s relatives to a Baramati hospital after the accident.
Meanwhile, the two Kanherkar brothers lay seriously injured at the accident spot.
The police made no attempt to shift them to hospital despite knowing about the mishap.
Tushar, the driver of the goods carrier (MH 42 M-1750) has fractured both legs, while his brother Vishal suffered serious head injuries which necessitated a brain surgery.
Both brothers are now recuperating in the intensive care unit of Bhoite Hospital in Baramati.
Sanjay Kanherkar, father of the two young men told DNA in Baramati on Monday that it was only when some other motorists rang them up that they could drive to the spot to rescue his sons.
“It was inhuman to leave my sons at the accident spot,” he said.
Police inspector Ashok Wandekar of Baramati police station told DNA that they had filed a case against Tushar for alleged rash and negligent driving.
He said the location was not an accident zone.
Meanwhile, a thorny bush growing wild near a culvert on the Pune-Baramati road could have played a role in the collision between the goods carrier and Patil’s car (MH12 FM 1).
A visit to the accident spot and interviews with villagers residing nearby pointed to the fact that the driver of the goods carrier might have veered off course on the two-lane road in a bid to avoid the thorny bush and come directly in line of the speeding sports utility vehicle.
Sadanand Gawde, a resident of Medas village located near the accident spot, pointed to the thorny bush.
He said, “In a bid to avoid the bush, the tempo driver in all probability veered off his lane and came in line of the minister’s car. High beam headlights and the speed of the minister’s car may have made it impossible for both drivers to react.”
Gawde told DNA that the minister’s car had come down a steep slope and would have therefore been at high speed.
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