In a tragic incident, a joyride to celebrate the birthday of a 26-year-old in Bengaluru resulted in a horrific tragedy, killing him and three of his friends. Police say that the driver of the overspeeding car lost control at a curve and hit a median at the Handarahalli Cross at Devanahalli. The car overturned, rolled multiple times, killing four of the youngsters and injuring five others in the car.
The Hindu identified the young man celebrating the birthday as Mallikarjuna Reddy who was working at the Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra. He and eight other friends were initially at his residence in MS Palya. Later, they decided to go to Nandi Hills to watch the sunrise.
The other deceased have been identified as Ashok Reddy, Nagaraju, 25, and Sundar, 25.
“After cutting a cake, they decided to go to Nandi Hills to watch the sunrise,” police told The Hindu.
One of the friends, Ashok Reddy had reportedly got a car on hire from his office.
“Ashok Reddy was driving around 120kmph when the accident took place around 5am. It turned at least three times before coming to a halt. All those who died were sitting in the front and middle portion of the vehicle. Most died of head and spinal cord injuries,” police told The Times of India.
Four people (including Mallikarjuna and Ashok Reddy) died on impact.
“The remaining five friends, who were sitting at the back, sustained injuries and are being treated at a private hospital in Hoskote,” the police added.
The other deceased have been identified as Nagaraju, 25, and Sundar, 25.
The Times of India quoted police saying Nagaraju was an arts student with Bagepalli Government College. Ashok and Sundar were drivers.
They other five friends been identified as Girish (23), Ramesh (26), Manjunath (26), Ashok (26), and Raghunath Reddy (22).
A case of death due to negligence and rash and negligent driving has been booked.