Ranchi: Two people were killed by speeding four-wheelers in the city in separate cases in the past 24 hours, police said on Thursday. Moreover, late on Tuesday, a speeding SUV ran over several persons, including policemen.Around 10.15 pm on Wednesday, a drunk driver identified as Atul Chada (32) ran over half-a-dozen people and killed one of them at the Amravati Colony under the Chutia police station. The area where the incident took place is adjacent to Nepal House secretariat and the under-construction south side of the Ranchi railway station.The victims were attending a house-warming party in the area when the speeding vehicle ran over them. One of the injured, Dharmendra Kumar (40), a city-based businessman, died in a private hospital in the city during treatment.After committing the crime, Chadha escaped from the scene, prompting city police to make a frantic search for him, which culminated in his arrest at about 3 am on Thursday from Ormanjhi on the city outskirts. Police recovered liquor bottles and snacks from the vehicle.On Thursday, SP (city) Paras Rana said, “Atul intentionally killed Dharmendra and injured others while fleeing the scene. Both the deceased and the accused were friends for a long time and business partners. They were having some tension due to financial issues. On Wednesday, too, they had an altercation during the house-warming party, and Atul intentionally ran his vehicle over Dharmendra, leading to his death. Among the six others injured is a woman who is critical, while others received only minor injuries.”The SP said that there were at least nine cases registered against Atul across different police stations in the city for his involvement in various crimes since 2012. “A case has been registered against him with the Chutia police station for his alleged attempt to commit intentional murder and criminal conspiracy under sections 109(1), 103(1) and 61(2) of the BNS,” Rana added.In another fatal accident on the busy Lalpur-Kokar road under the Lalpur police station around 3:30 pm on Thursday, a speeding four-wheeler collided head-on with an e-rickshaw, critically injuring five passengers. One of the injured later died at the Ranchi sadar hospital.One of the injured said the four-wheeler was approaching towards Kokar at a very high speed from the Lalpur Chowk side and rammed the e-rickshaw.In view of the rising rash driving incidents, Ranchi SSP Rakesh Ranjan convened a meeting on Thursday and directed the police force to take action against such drivers.The SSP directed the police to keep a close eye on speeding vehicles at night and to put sliders and barricades at prominent locations to curb the menace.
