PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE /Dehradun
The Raiwala police arrested two men for allegedly causing a road accident that killed two Kanwadiyas and later throwing the body of one of the victims into the Ganga canal to hide the evidence. The accused have been identified as Ravindra Singh Negi (23) and his cousin Saurabh Singh Panwar (26).
Haryana resident Deepak Rathi lodged a missing person complaint at Raiwala police station on July 29. He told the police that his father, Pradeep Rathi (54) had gone to Rishikesh to collect Ganga water and was last seen in CCTV camera footage near Raiwala police station on July 26.
During the investigation, police found that two Kanwadiyas had been hit by an unknown vehicle near the forest corporation depot in Raiwala on the same morning. One of them, Satyanarayan (40) from Rajasthan, died during treatment. After checking CCTV camera footage with the family, police confirmed that the second victim was the missing pilgrim, Pradeep Rathi.
Police traced the vehicle involved in the accident and questioned its driver Singh. During interrogation, he admitted that he had hit the two pilgrims after he allegedly dozed off while driving his loader vehicle. He told the police that one victim died on the spot, while the other got trapped under the vehicle and was dragged for some distance. Police said that he claimed that he had tried to take the injured man for treatment, but panicked after realising that he had died.
According to the police, Singh then called his cousin, Panwar for help. The two allegedly wrapped the body in a plastic sheet and mat and threw it into the Ganga canal near Asafnagar Jhal in an attempt to destroy evidence.
The police have arrested both accused and seized the vehicle used in the accident. Search teams have been deployed in the Roorkee stretch of the Gangnahar to recover Rathi’s body, the police said.
