Pune: A political party worker (37) died after a speeding sports utility vehicle (SUV), in which he was travelling, crashed into the rear of a truck on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway’s Connecting Link around 1.30am on Friday.The Lonavla City police identified the deceased as Tushar Waman Bhumkar of Wakad. The accident occurred when both the vehicles were heading towards Mumbai from Pune.An officer from the Lonavla City police said Bhumkar was an active political worker and businessman from Wakad. Bhumkar’s wife had contested the recent Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation elections, police said.“Prima facie, the SUV was speeding. The SUV crashed into the truck before the driver could even apply the brakes. It killed Bhumkar, who was sitting next to the driver, on the spot. The impact was such that the truck’s driver and cleaner were flung out of the cabin and suffered injuries,” the officer said.The police have registered a case against the SUV driver for causing death by negligence. Shivaji Pawar, superintendent of police, highway safety patrol of Pune, corroborated that the accident occurred on the Connecting Link around 1.30am.The other four occupants of the SUV and the truck driver and cleaner suffered injuries in the accident as well.They were identified as Amit Bhati (driver of the SUV), Pradip Bhusare, Pankaj Patil and Prasad Vinode. The truck driver, Rambhau Mundabe, and cleaner, Kuldeep Pawar, both are from Latur. All the injured people were being treated at a nearby hospital.“The SUV crashed into the rear of a truck carrying vegetables. Due to the impact, both vehicles overturned. Bhumkar had died on the spot, while four other occupants of the SUV and the truck’s driver and cleaner suffered injuries,” Pawar said.The officer said traffic on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway remained normal as the vehicles involved in the accident were immediately shifted off the expressway.
