Ahmedabad: A 69-year-old passenger rickshaw driver walking home after giving his vehicle for repairs was fatally knocked down by a speeding loading rickshaw whose driver was allegedly drunk. Locals caught hold of the driver and handed him to police. The incident occurred in Odhav on Friday. The victim has been identified as Hariprasad Pandey, a resident of Giriraj Society in Adinathnagar. His son, Shailesh, (36), filed a police complaint, according to which Hariprasad left home around 9.30am in his rickshaw to get it repaired. When he did not return home until evening, Shailesh called him several times, but the line was always busy. Around 7.45pm, another rickshaw driver who knew Hariprasad reached Shailesh’s garment shop to tell him his father had been hit by a loading rickshaw near the ONGC well wall, on the road between Panjarapol Crossroads and Paryavaran Mandir. On reaching the spot, Shailesh, his wife and younger siblings found Hariprasad lying dead on the roadside with severe injuries to his head and face. The blue loading vehicle was found lying a short distance away and did not have a registration number plate. Witnesses informed the family that the driver, identified as Raju Jatavm appeared heavily intoxicated and was unable to stand properly.
