Purnea: Five people were killed in a road rage in Bihar's Purnea after a pickup van hit 11 people on Sunday. Two out of six injured persons are undergoing treatment at a hospital in critical condition. The incident took place in Dhokwa village which falls under Dhamdaha police station area limits. Police launched a hunt to arrest the accused driver, who is absconding.
Sources said people were standing on the roadside near the Panchayat Bhawan in Dhokwa village when the uncontrolled pickup van crushed them and sped away. According to eyewitnesses, the driver, who was intoxicated was driving at a breakneck speed and failed to control the vehicle.
The family members of the deceased have accused Sonu Kumar, who belonged to the same village, of deliberately driving the car. Sonu, who drove the pickup van, was returning when the accident happened. He first hit a child, who was standing on the roadside. When people standing nearby asked Sonu why he was not driving properly, he got enraged.
"Sonu who belonged to Dhokwa village ran over 11 people in a drunken state. First people argued with him because his car had hit a child," one of the kin of the deceased said. The deceased have been identified as Jyotish Thakur (50), Sanyukta Devi(45), Amardeep (6), Akhilesh(11) and Manisha(11) of Dhokwa village. The injured include Rajesh Muni, Abhinandan Muni, Shalu Kumar, Poonam Devi, Twinkle Kumari and Nikki Devi.
After the incident, all the injured were rushed to Dhamdaha sub-divisional hospital. From there, many of the injured were referred in view of their critical condition. At present, all the injured are being treated at Purnea Medical College Hospital. According to doctors, the condition of the two persons are critical.
Dhamdaha police station in-charge Ranjan Kumar said that as soon as the information about the incident was received, a police team reached the spot. All the bodies have been taken and sent to Purnea Medical College for post-mortem. He said that on the written application of the local people, a case has been registered against Sonu Kumar of the village. "We are hunting for Sonu Kumar of Dhokwa village. He was apparently in a drunken state and hit people after an argument with some people," Kumar said.
