Lack of diversion indication on Rajpura-Ambala road claims 3 lives

PATIALA: Three persons have died in an accident which allegedly took place due to the negligence of the National Highway (NH) authorities on Rajpura – Ambala road on NH-1.


According to the information, the incident took place at around 11 pm on Sunday when a Celerio car stuck into the debris and soil kept on the road following the construction work that was underway.

The police informed that the diversion has been given near the under-construction spot however, there was a lack of indication or signboards for the commuters to witness the debris and soil lying on the road.

The deceased have been identified as Sunil Sukhija and his relative Suraj Kanta. Both of them were going towards Ludhiana from Delhi.

In order to rescue the victims, a passer-by identified as Gurpreet Singh, a resident of Banur stopped on the way near the SYL-bridge, where the construction was underway. Meanwhile, another speeding car rammed into the victim’s car leaving all the three dead on the spot.

The police have registered a case under sections of negligence causing death against the car driver who rammed the stuck Celerio car occupants. The police said that the accused car driver left his car on the spot and managed to escape however, raids were on to nab him. However, no case has been registered against the NH authorities so far but the police are probing the matter thoroughly.

Negligence of NH 1 authorities

The Shambu police of Patiala district had written to the NH- 1 authorities to get the signals and indications at the diversion given on SYL bridge. The locals in nearby villages claimed that in the past, number of such incidents have taken place due to the absence of lights and signals for diversion.

The locals claimed that a few hours before the accident on Sunday night, the cars of two commuters got stuck into the heaps of soil that had turned marshy following rains. Project director of the underconstruction at NH-1 Vishal Gautam, remained incommunicado despite repeated attempts.