BENGALURU: Cracking a mysterious hit-and-run case that saw the death of a 27-year-old club-level footballer, police have arrested a 29-year-old-truck driver for allegedly causing the accident and speeding away in KR Puram in the early hours of Jan 21.
K Monish of Babusabpalya, astride a two-wheeler, was hit by a then unidentified vehicle near B Channasandra skywalk at 2.30am. Passers-by and police shifted Monish to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries later in the day. Monish is survived by his parents and a sister. He played as a central midfielder for clubs like Bangalore Eagles, Parikrama, Deccan, ADE, and Young Challengers.
That day, police suspected it could be a truck that rear-ended Monish’s bike. “A little away from the accident spot, there were CCTV cameras and on scanning the footage, we found that a 16-wheel multi-axle truck had passed by. Unfortunately, the licence plate of the truck wasn’t clearly visible. From that day, we started collecting details of the multi-axle-truck that had passed on that stretch. We also collected details of such trucks from container yards in and around the city, looking for those travelling on the stretch. After some search, we found the truck had come from Whitefield direction. Not many such 16-wheel trucks had come from Whitefield at that time and it made our work easier,” an investigating officer said.
In all, cops scanned 150 bits of CCTV footage before zeroing in on the truck.
DCP (traffic-east) Kuldeep Kumar Jain said documents collected from a container yard in Whitefield revealed that one truck had travelled along the stretch at the time of the accident. “By then, we managed to secure footages from other places in the city, showing the truck and its number clearly. On inspecting, we found it was the same truck that had mowed down the footballer,” he said.
The accused driver is Manjunatha, a resident of Whitefield. “He pleaded innocence but when we pointed to the damage caused to his truck at the time of the accident, he had no answer,” an officer said. The driver has been booked under IPC section 304A and released on station bail.
K Monish of Babusabpalya, astride a two-wheeler, was hit by a then unidentified vehicle near B Channasandra skywalk at 2.30am. Passers-by and police shifted Monish to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries later in the day. Monish is survived by his parents and a sister. He played as a central midfielder for clubs like Bangalore Eagles, Parikrama, Deccan, ADE, and Young Challengers.
That day, police suspected it could be a truck that rear-ended Monish’s bike. “A little away from the accident spot, there were CCTV cameras and on scanning the footage, we found that a 16-wheel multi-axle truck had passed by. Unfortunately, the licence plate of the truck wasn’t clearly visible. From that day, we started collecting details of the multi-axle-truck that had passed on that stretch. We also collected details of such trucks from container yards in and around the city, looking for those travelling on the stretch. After some search, we found the truck had come from Whitefield direction. Not many such 16-wheel trucks had come from Whitefield at that time and it made our work easier,” an investigating officer said.
In all, cops scanned 150 bits of CCTV footage before zeroing in on the truck.
DCP (traffic-east) Kuldeep Kumar Jain said documents collected from a container yard in Whitefield revealed that one truck had travelled along the stretch at the time of the accident. “By then, we managed to secure footages from other places in the city, showing the truck and its number clearly. On inspecting, we found it was the same truck that had mowed down the footballer,” he said.
The accused driver is Manjunatha, a resident of Whitefield. “He pleaded innocence but when we pointed to the damage caused to his truck at the time of the accident, he had no answer,” an officer said. The driver has been booked under IPC section 304A and released on station bail.