Kalyan: The Kalyan taluka police have arrested the driver of the cement mixer truck involved in the fatal Rayta bridge accident on the Kalyan-Murbad stretch of National Highway 61, even as investigations point to negligence and possible overspeeding as key factors behind the tragedy that claimed 11 lives.The cement mixer driver was produced before Kalyan court which sent him to judicial custody.The accused, identified as Kamlesh Yadav (a native of Uttar Pradesh), was apprehended from Kalyan on Tuesday. Police have registered a case against him and the deceased taxi driver under charges of rash and negligent driving and culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Officials said Yadav’s blood samples have been collected to ascertain whether he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident.The incident occurred on Monday when an overcrowded six-seater taxi carrying 11 passengers including taxi driver Prashant Chendane collided head-on with the cement mixer on the partially opened Rayta bridge.According to the police, as many as 11 passengers had crammed into the vehicle, which routinely ferried commuters between Kalyan and Murbad. The impact was so severe that the taxi was completely mangled, trapping all occupants inside.Locals who rushed to the spot after hearing a loud crash helped pull out the victims from the wreckage before emergency teams arrived. Murbad DSP Anil Lad said preliminary findings suggest negligence on the part of both drivers. While the taxi driver, Prashant Chendne (21), died in the crash, the mixer truck driver had initially fled the spot before being tracked down in Kalyan and arrested.Residents have also blamed ongoing construction work on the connector for exacerbating the accident. Only two lanes of the newly built bridge had been opened recently, with work on the remaining stretch still underway, leading to traffic bottlenecks and confusion among motorists.In the aftermath of the tragedy, the state highway authority has accelerated the pending two-lane work on the stretch. Locals have urged the state govt to expedite the project to prevent further mishaps. There have also been renewed calls for stricter enforcement by the RTO against passenger taxis operating beyond their permitted capacity on the Kalyan-Murbad route.
