Lorry runs over traffic cop on duty
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A traffic policeman was killed and two injured when a container lorry ran over them while they were on duty early on Thursday morning on Manali High Road near Sathankadu police station.
The deceased was identified as Santhana Mariyappan, 26, a native of Tirunelveli who was attached to the Manali traffic police station. The injured are sub inspector Kumar and constable Prem Navaz.
“We believe that the driver, now missing, was half sleep when he hit the group of policemen who were trying to streamline the waiting containers on the particular road,” said a senior police official.
“Stuck in a long queue of vehicles going to the port, the drivers tend to sleep while they wait, move when there is some space and again sleep.
The container vehicle (TN 05 Y 2971) which hit and dragged the victim for a few meters, was on its way to the harbour,” said the official.
Mariyappan was sitting on the bike while the other two were standing and chatting on the right side of the road not far away from the Sathankadu police station around 1.30 am when the moving container hit them, the police said.
The driver thought there is space on the right side of the road and accelerated to move further up in the queue. In the process, he ran over the policemen.
“It was a driver who had just been hired by the Minjur based owner of the container lorry. Even the owner does not have the details of the driver who is missing since the accident,” the police said.
Hundreds of container lorries queue up on roads leading to the port every day, making it a Herculean task for police personnel to streamline the traffic.
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