Day after Kanpur mishap, SHO suspended

Kanpur, October 2

A day after 26 people died in a tractor-trolley accident here, a station house officer (SHO) was suspended for alleged “dereliction of duty”. The tractor driver is still absconding.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met the injured at the hospital and the bereaved families at Kortha village.

The loss of lives in road accidents is a matter of grave concern and the government would launch more awareness programmes on road safety to prevent such tragedies, he said and again appealed to people not to use tractor-trolley to ferry passengers.

District Magistrate of Kanpur Vishak G on Sunday said, “The SHO of Saadh police station has been suspended for dereliction of duty.” A senior police official said that the accident spot was near Bhadeuna village, barely a km from the Saadh police station, but the SHO reached there after around one hour.

“The death toll stands at 26, while the number of injured is nine. There were 35 passengers on the ill-fated tractor-trolley. Post-mortem examination was conducted at night. The cremation is being carried out at Deori Ghat in Maharajpur,” the DM said.

According to the eyewitnesses, the tractor was being driven at a high speed despite requests by the passengers to slow down, Additional Director General of Police (Kanpur zone) Bhanu Bhaskar told reporters.

“Subsequently, the driver lost control over the tractor and it overturned. The women and children came under the trolley,” he said. He said that the driver of the tractor is absconding.