Kumar Rajiv Nayan
Ara : Three members of a family including a minor boy were killed and 7 others injured when a speeding Bolero collided head-on with an overcrowded auto-rickshaw near village Kitapur on Ara-Mohania NH-30 under Jagdishpur police station (PS) in Bhojpur District in South Bihar on December 7, 2021, morning,
The injured were admitted to Ara Sadar Hospital. The driver of the Bolero escaped from the place of occurrence leaving the vehicle behind. Irate villagers blocked Ara-Mohania NH-30 near village Kitapur with the bodies paralysing movement of vehicles. They were demanding arrest of the driver of the Bolero and compensation to the next of kin of the deceased. The blockade was lifted after positive response from the SHO, Jagdishpur PS, and the CO, Jagdishpur. Later, police brought the bodies over to Ara Sadar Hospital for postmortem.
The deceased were identified as Heera Lal Bhagat, son of late Nagina Bhagat of village Bhabhniyaav under Jagdishpur police station, his son-in-law Lalan Bhagat of village Ghusiyan under Bikramganj PS in Rohtas, and his grandson Purushottam Kumar, 5.
The injured were identified as Poonam Devi, wife of Lalan Bhagat of Ghusiyan, her daughter Pammy Kumari, 11, Ravindra Ram, son of the auto-rickshaw driver Mahendra Ram of village Babhniyaav, Tetari Devi of village Danapur Lakhni Bigaha under Khagaul PS in Patna district, her daughter Naina Kumari, and brother-in-law (devar) Pankaj Kumar.
Tetari Devi said at Ara Sadar Hospitalthat she along with her daughter and brother-in-law had gone to her parents’ house at village Babhniyav village under Jagdishpur PS about a week ago. Lalan Bhagat along with his wife, daughter, and son, had gone to his in-laws at Babhinyav on November 19, 2021, to attend a marriage ceremony there. All of them were returning home on December 7, 2021, on a reserved auto-rickshaw. When the auto-rickshaw reached near village Kitapur on Ara-Mohania NH-30, a speeding Bolero collided head-on with the auto in which Heera Lal Bhagat, his son-in-law Lalan Bhagat, and grandson Puroshottam Kumar were killed on the spot.