Bathinda: A truck driver was arrested today for mowing down and killing nine persons, including eight students, near the Chetak Park area here, police said. Dharmendra, a native of Uttarakhand, was booked under section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC, Bathinda Superintendent of Police Gurmeet Singh said.
The students and a female government employee were waiting for transport by the Bathinda-Chandigarh road here yesterday when they were run over by a truck that had lost control after colliding with another vehicle, police said, adding the driver then fled from the spot.
Dharmendra, in his statement, said he accidentally rammed into an SUV due to low visibility caused by smog and then the truck veered toward the bystanders, mowing them down.
The students, aged 17-20, and the woman were initially travelling in a state transport bus that broke down following an accident with a mini bus, police said. They then got down and were waiting by the side of the road to catch another vehicle when they were run over.
