PUNE: A 32-year-old pregnant woman and her 17-year-old niece died after they were stuck between two minitrucks carrying loudspeakers at a Ganapati immersion procession at Sadgurunagar in Bhosari around 11pm on Saturday. The driver of a minitruck lost control while he was trying to join the procession and hit another truck. “Pratibha Ambatwar and her niece Kadambari Gadekar, both from Sadgurunagar, were stuck between these two trucks and sustained severe injuries. They were taken to a hospital, where they succumbed to the injuries,” sub-inspector Shrikant Gurav of the Bhosari police station told TOI.The Bhosari police on Sunday arrested the driver under sections 106 (causing death by negligence), 281 (negligent driving), 125 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and relevant sections of the Motor Vehicle Act. Kadambari’s father Kashinath Gadekar (41), lodged a complaint with the Bhosari police on Sunday.When contacted, Gadekar told TOI that his family and his brother-in-law’s family went to witness the immersion procession on Saturday night. “Women in our families were standing on one side of the road, while we were on the opposite side,” Gadekar said. Around 11pm, when he was watching some youngsters from his area in the procession, he heard screams. “I saw a minitruck carrying loudspeakers had hit another minitruck in the procession, and my daughter was stuck between these vehicles,” he said.Gadekar said that he rushed there and saw his sister-in-law too, who was five months pregnant. Both of them were severely injured. “I took my daughter to a hospital, while others brought my sister-in-law. They succumbed to injuries in the hospital,” Gadekar said. Ambatwar is survived by her husband and a daughter.Gurav said investigations revealed that the minitruck carrying loudspeakers was coming from Grihalaxmi Colony to join the immersion procession on the road heading towards Sadgurunagar. There is a slope on the road. “The driver lost control of the wheel on the slope and crashed into another minitruck that was already part of the procession. One of our constables was standing next to the victims. She had a narrow escape as she had moved ahead just a few seconds before the accident,” Gurav added.He said the driver of the minitruck tried to flee after the accident but was nabbed by locals, who then handed him over to the police. “Both families are from Nanded district,” he added.
