Date:02/01/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/01/02/stories/2005010215450300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Three New Year revellers die in accidents

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, JAN. 1. Three New Year revellers, including two engineering students, were killed in road accidents in the city early on Saturday.

The police said that Syed Khadir (20) and Raghavendra (21), engineering students, were killed when a vehicle hit their motorcycle on Bellary Road, in front of Canara Bank, around 12.40 a.m. The driver of the vehicle sped away after the accident, the police said.

Khadir and Raghavendra, residents of Yelahanka, were returning home after spending some time with the revellers on Mahatma Gandhi Road when the accident occurred.

Khadir was a fifth semester student of Sir M. Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology at Hunasamaranahalli.

Raghavendra, a native of Udupi, was a sixth semester student of SRS Institute of Technology at Chikkajala, the police said. The R.T. Nagar traffic police have registered a case and are on the lookout for the vehicle.

In another incident, Manoj (22), an employee of a private firm and a resident of Ganganagar, was killed when he was run over by a vehicle on the Ring Road, off TES College, in Ramamurthynagar police station limits around 3 a.m.

The police said that Manoj had left his house at 11 p.m. and had told his mother that he would return after greeting his friends.

The Ramamurthynagar traffic police have registered a case and are on the lookout for the vehicle.

The police said that at least 35 cases of non-fatal accidents were reported from different parts of the city after midnight. Most of these accidents were the result of drunken driving. According to a release from M.S. Ramaiah Memorial Hospital, 13 victims of road accidents were treated at the hospital's Accident and Emergency Centre till 6 a.m. today.

Policemen injured

Four policemen, including the Cubbon Park inspector, Jitendranath, were injured when the New Year revellers turned violent and hurled stones and other objects at policemen on Mahatma Gandhi Road on Friday midnight. The injured policemen were treated at Bowring Hospital.

The police said that they resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the unruly crowd but did not lob tear-gas shells as reported in a section of the media.

The Cubbon Park police have registered a case of rioting.