Man killed, another seriously injured as scooty hits pothole in Palghar

Palghar, Nov 23 (PTI) A man was killed and his colleague injured after their scooty hit a large pothole and a truck ran over him in Maharashtra’s Palghar district on Sunday morning, police said.

The accident, which occurred in the Nalasopara area at around 8 am, triggered chaos, public anger and heavy traffic disruption as some unidentified persons later set ablaze the truck.

The deceased has been identified as Mahesh Desai, who was a manager with a private company. His colleague Lavkush Verma, who sustained severe injuries, has been admitted to a civic hospital for treatment, a police official said.

The scooty lost balance after hitting a large pothole, causing Desai to fall directly under the rear wheels of a truck moving behind their two-wheeler, according to eyewitnesses.

The truck driver fled the spot immediately after the incident, leaving the vehicle behind.

Moments later, some unidentified persons arrived at the spot on a motorcycle and set the parked truck ablaze, leading to a major traffic jam in the area.

Residents expressed anger over the poor condition of roads in the locality.

"This happened because of the administration's negligence. These potholes have become death traps," local resident Bablu Pal said, demanding immediate repairs and strict action against those responsible.

After being alerted, police reached the spot and restored traffic movement.

The victim's body has been sent to a government hospital for a postmortem, the police said.

A probe was underway into the incident, they said. PTI COR GK