Mangaluru police have arrested a government official for knocking down and killing a pedestrian, a retired Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) employee, in a case of drunken driving near Circuit House, in the city, on Sunday night.

Shanmugam, an Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) of Minor Irrigation and Ground Water Department, Dakshina Kannada, was arrested on charges of knocking down A Ananda (62) who worked for a firm in Udupi. Ananda was walking towards his house after getting off a bus when the car driven by Shanmugam knocked him down at around 10 pm. Ananda was declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital.

Mangaluru Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar said that investigations had revealed that Shanmugam was inebriated while driving the car. Footage of the incident was also captured on a nearby CCTV camera that was recovered by the police. It showed the car coming fast from the direction of the Circuit House and hitting a barricade on the roadside, before hitting Ananda from behind and tossing him some distance. 

Ananda's wife Lalitha was anguished by the news of her husband's death and lodged a complaint with the police accusing Shanmugam of culpable homicide and negligence under section 304 of the Indian Penal Code. "He was walking back after returning from a meeting in Udupi when the car hit him. There should be justice for him and the accused official should be jailed," said Lalitha in a video shared with media persons. 

The Mangaluru Traffic East police officials are currently investigating the case and said that they have charged Shanmugam with culpable homicide after confirming that he was in a drunken state while driving the car.