An accident in the early hours of Friday claimed the lives of three car-borne students of engineering at Thapar University, while another survived with serious injuries, on Bhadson Road in Patiala. The four, students of BTech at the university, were in another friend’s Swift Dzire car when it crashed into two poles and also rammed a shop wall, scattering bricks on the road, just after the Thursday-Friday midnight.
The three who died on the spot were identified as Aman Singh, 23, resident of Zirakpur; Arundeep Rana, 22, resident of Naya Nangal in Rupnagar; and Manikant, 25, a resident of the local Century Enclave, who was driving the car. Mriganka Mandal, 25, of Murshidabad in West Bengal, suffered injuries and was rushed to Rajindra Government Hospital, where his condition is stated to be critical.
Kulvir Singh, another student and the owner of the car, was in town to appear for a reappear exam and was with the friends before he slept off at Arundeep and Mriganka’s rented accommodation near the university campus. “Apparently, when I was sleeping, Manikant took away the keys of the car.” He said he came to know of the mishap when he found them missing upon waking up.
Varinder Singh, a resident of East Enclave who took Mriganka to hospital, said he was sleeping inside his house around 100 metres from the accident spot when they heard an explosion-like sound. “When I reached near the car, three young men were already dead and the injured boy was in serious condition.
“I immediately called the police and ambulance. The police reached before the ambulance, and we took him to the hospital in our car,” he said.
Doctors at the hospital said Mriganka suffered internal injuries. As per the doctor’s report, his liver is damaged severely; he has head injury, besides a thigh fracture.
A case was registered under section 279 (rash driving) and 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Tripuri police station in Patiala.
