Ghaziabad: A woman and her 12-year-old niece were mowed down by a UP Roadways bus at the busy Mohan Nagar junction after the driver allegedly failed to apply the brakes because a water bottle kept near his feet had jammed it, police said.The driver, Dinesh Kumar, has been arrested and the bus has been seized, an officer said.The accident took place around 2pm on Thursday, when the duo, 45-year-old Sarvesh and her niece Kushi, were crossing the road. According to investigators, the driver of the Roadways bus could not stop the vehicle in time because a water bottle kept near his feet and rolled underneath the brakes.ACP Sahibabad Amit Saxena said the deceased did not use the footbridge and were trying to cross the road by dodging fast-moving vehicles on a wide road.Saxena said the two were on their way to attend Sarvesh’s brother’s marriage in Bulandshahr. They had stepped out of an auto-rickshaw and were approaching a bus going to Bulandshahr when the UP Roadways bus came from behind, crushed them in the middle of the road and rammed into the other bus.“Locals immediately informed police of the accident and took them to a nearby private hospital where doctors declared them dead on arrival. Police registered an FIR under sections 281 (rash driving) and 106 (death due to negligence) of BNS at the Sahibabad police station,” he said.The ACP said the locals vandalised the bus and the driver managed to escape the spot at the time. However, police later tracked him down and arrested him.Police said jaywalking in the area is very common. While a footbridge exists, most people do not use it, leading to many near-death accidents close to the Junction.In a separate incident, a 46-year-old woman was killed and her husband was injured after a truck hit their bike from behind near Sudarshan Hospital on GT Road in the Sihani Gate area.The deceased, Kalpana Arya, and the injured, Nigrah Arya (53), were residents of Nehru Nagar.The deceased’s husband said that around 9.30pm on Thursday, they were going to the Sudarshan Hospital from Bhatia Mod bridge towards Rakesh Marg when a truck being driven at high speed rammed his motorcycle.“The collision was so severe that my wife was sent flying. I too suffered serious injuries. Unfortunately, during treatment, my wife passed away,” he said.ACP of Nandgram Ziauddin Ahmad said that on the basis of the man’s complaint, an FIR was registered under sections 281 (rash driving) and 106 (death due to negligence) of BNS at the Sihani Gate police station.“We have seized the truck and arrested the driver,” he said.
