A day after six people were killed in Coimbatore following an Audi car crash, the blood samples of the driver have come back negative for traces of alcohol.
The speeding Audi SUV rammed a stationary autorickshaw on Wednesday morning killing six persons on the spot and injuring several others. The car was traveling from Pollachi to Coimbatore to pick up the owner of Rathinam College from Eachanari. The driver, Jagadeesh, lost control near Periyar bus stop as the vehicle approached Sundarapuram and hit two people who were standing at the bus stop. It then crashed into an autorickshaw that was parked near the bus stop killing four other people nearby.
The driver was thrashed by the public before he was handed over to the police. Jagadeesh had reportedly told the public that he lost consciousness at the wheel and lost control of the car.
However, the police claim that Jagadeesh allegedly confessed to the duty doctor at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital that he had in fact consumed alcohol before he got into the car on Tuesday night. He also allegedly confessed that he driven the entire night from Bengaluru to Pollachi.
Speaking to TNM, Periaiah, the Commissioner of Police said, “The blood and the urine samples of Jagadeesh have no traces of alcohol. However, he told the doctor on Wednesdaythat he drank alcohol before he started driving and that when the incident happened he was not under the influence of alcohol. We have remanded him for 14 days and registered a case of overspeeding and drunken driving.”
The police have registered cases under sections 183 (Driving at excessive speed), 184 (Driving dangerously) and 185 (Driving by a drunken person or by a person under the influence of drugs) of the Motor Vehicles Act, and sections 279 (Rash driving or riding on a public way), 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 ( Causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304 (2) (Culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC.