Three personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and a civilian driver were killed after their car rammed into a stationary lorry on a highway in Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari district on Saturday morning, police said.
The accident occurred around 8 am near Khapri village on the Dhamtari bypass along the Jagdalpur-Raipur National Highway. The victims were commandos of the CRPF’s elite Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) unit, Superintendent of Police Suraj Singh Parihar said.
The deceased personnel belonged to the 201st battalion of CoBRA. They were travelling from Jagdalpur, the headquarters of Bastar district, to Raipur to proceed to their native places on leave. Four CoBRA commandos and a civilian driver were in the vehicle at the time of the crash.
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According to police, the car, which was reportedly moving at speed, rammed into a lorry parked on the roadside. The impact was severe. One jawan and the driver died on the spot, while two other personnel succumbed to injuries on the way to hospital.
Prima facie, investigators suspect that the driver may have dozed off at the wheel, causing the vehicle to lose control and crash into the stationary lorry, Parihar said.
The deceased were identified as CRPF personnel Saurabh Tomar, Mukesh Kumar and Rajkumar God, and the driver, Heeralal Nagar. Another CoBRA commando, Abhiman Rai (28), sustained injuries and has been referred to a hospital in Raipur for further treatment.
The CRPF and its CoBRA units are extensively deployed in the Bastar region, which comprises seven districts, for anti-Naxal operations. Further investigation into the accident is underway.
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