12-year-old crushed under reversing tempo in Powai

A 12-year-old boy was killed when he accidentally came close to a tempo while playing with his friends. The tempo was reversing and the boy got crushed its rear tyres, at Powai on Tuesday.

Sub inspector SV Kharat from Powai police station said, “The driver did not flee from the spot and tried to save the boy’s life by taking him to hospital but due to excessive blood loss, he died.”

Ritesh Samuel, a Std VII student of Saint Lawrence School in Powai, was on his way to his tuition classes with his friends and elder brother Dinesh.

The police said that Samuel, a Marol resident, was anticipating going to his relatives’ house at his native place as the school had declared Christmas vacation.

Around 3.30pm, when Samuel, along with his friends and Dinesh reached Ashok Nagar, while playing he got pushed towards the road.

His shoulder bag strap got stuck in a hook on the tempo. The vehicle reversed and Samuel got dragged beneath its rear tyres.

The driver did not know that Samuel had come under the vehicle and was alerted by a few passers-by, who then, with Dinesh’s help, rushed Samuel to the SevenHills Hospital. He was declared dead before admission.

The police were informed and they have arrested the tempo driver Raju Verma on charges of rash and negligent driving and negligence causing death.

In another incident at Shivaji Nagar, a 14-year-old was killed by a speeding dumper on Wednesday. Shamsher Ali Shaikh, a student of a madrassa in Panvel, had come to his residence at Shivaji Nagar.

He had stepped out of his house when the dumper crushed him and fled. The police have launched a manhunt for the driver.