The Vanasthalipuram police in Hyderabad on Thursday arrested a 27-year-old software engineer and his friend for drunken driving which led to the tragic deaths of two migrants in the city.
The incident took place on Wednesday when the accused, identified as Tej Reddy, was travelling with his friend towards Hayathangar in an SUV.
The police said that the car was travelling at such a high speed that it stopped only after it hit a cement block. They also said that an alcohol bottle was found in the car.
According to reports, Reddy's blood alcohol content (BAC) was 110 mg/100 ml. The permissible alcohol limit according to the city police is 30 mg/100 ml of blood, i.e. 30 micrograms/100 ml of blood. Anything above that, as recorded by a breath analyser, is considered drunken driving.
The deceased have been identified as 34-year-old Bhava Singh and 30-year-old Eshwar Lal. They were migrants from Rajasthan and had moved to the city recently and sold blankets for a living.
One of the injured told a local media outlet, "The incident happened as we were closing the shop. We saw the vehicle coming towards us and before we knew it, he had crashed here. One died on the spot and two are very serious. Two of us received smaller injuries. After the accident, we found three of them at a distance of more than 20 feet away."
The two accused were arrested and presented in front of a court who sent them to judicial remand.
A case had been registered against the driver under Sections 304A (Causing death by negligence) and 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the IPC besides relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act.
Just this year alone, the traffic police have registered 14,440 cases of drunk driving across the city as of June 30, according to the department’s own data. The police have also arrested 2,503 people for drinking and driving during that same time period.