A two-month old infant was killed in a tragic accident in the upscale Jubilee Hills area of Hyderabad when an SUV hit three women who were with two children and selling balloons on the street. The accident has garnered attention as the vehicle had a Telangana Legislative Assembly sticker in the name of an MLA from the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Mohammed Shakil Aamir. Four others were also injured in the accident that happened around 8.30 pm on the night of Thursday, March 17, at Jubilee Hills Road Number 45 near Durgam Cheruvu Cable Bridge.
Police said that according to eyewitnesses, the person driving the car, a Mahindra Thar, abandoned the vehicle and fled immediately after the accident and attempts are on to trace the occupants using CCTV footage. According to police, after crossing the cable bridge, the SUV coming from the Madhapur side hit the street vendors, and the two infants who were in their mothers' laps fell down. Later, one of them was declared dead at the nearby Apollo hospital.
The three women and a one-year-old child who were also injured in the accident were undergoing treatment at a hospital. The victims were all migrants from Maharashtra. After the accident, the driver escaped leaving behind the vehicle with a Temporary Registration (TR) number. The vehicle also had a sticker with the Bodhan MLA’s name pasted on it.
Jubilee Hills inspector Rajasekhar Reddy said the vehicle was found to be registered in the name of a construction company and they were trying to trace the driver with the help of CCTV footage. Police were also investigating if there was only one person or more in the SUV and if the person at the wheels was under the influence of alcohol.
The TRS MLA, however, said that he has nothing to do with the incident. The MLA, who is said to be in Dubai currently, said he had given a sticker to a friend but did not know if it was the same found pasted on the vehicle involved in the accident.