At least 15 people, including six children, were killed and 27 injured after a truck ploughed into a group of devotees outside a temple in the Gwalior district of Madhya Pradesh in the early hours of Sunday, officials aware of the matter said.
The driver of one of the trucks lost control on the slope and ploughed into roadside stalls and devotees,” Gwalior superintendent of police Dharamveer Yadav said. The driver of the truck, Delhi resident Dilbag Singh, fled the spot and was arrested from Dholpur in Rajasthan later in the day. Harpreet Singh, the owner of the Punjab-registered truck, was held from Ludhiana. The vehicle was carrying paddy from a market in Dabra, around 40km from Gwalior, to Punjab. Police were investigating if the truck had the requisite permits. Witnesses blamed inadequate police preparation for the incident. “Where was police security when an out-of-control truck overturned onto my son at midnight? “I saw my relatives under the truck. I asked the police for help, but nobody had any answer about when they would remove the truck and rescue them. We hired a crane to take out my brother and sister. Chief minister Mohan Yadav ordered a probe into the incident, along with the removal of nine police personnel.
Around 1.30am, two trucks laden with paddy coming from the Chinor [village] side were stopped by police at a barricade. Kiran Parihar, whose 19-year-old son Gaurav Parihar was among the deceased, held authorities responsible for the incident. Only around 4 AM did the crane reach and bring out the bodies.
“Due to a large crowd, entry of heavy vehicles near the temple is restricted. “The driver said he lost control due to brake failure.
Now forensic experts are examining whether it was mechanical failure or negligence,” the SP said. “There was no police to stop the truck at night… There was nobody to check the entry of heavy vehicles near the temple premises, and that’s why this accident happened,” Ajay Kumar, a shopkeeper, said. Even after the accident, no help came,” she said. The families of the victims said that some of the bodies remained trapped under the overturned vehicle for hours, and they had to arrange for a crane to remove the vehicle. The police did nothing till 4am,” he said. “Taking the negligence in the incident near the Sheetla Mata Temple in Gwalior seriously, instructions have been issued to immediately remove the CSP [city superintendent of police] from his post and suspend three station house officers, one traffic inspector, one head constable, and three constables, along with ordering a detailed investigation into the incident,” he said in a post on X.
