Saturday, January 12, 2013

Truck driver who ‘ran over’ two Jain monks arrested

Indian Express Ahmedabad
10th January 2013

Bharuch police on Wednesday arrested the driver of the truck who allegedly ran over two Jain monks on National Highway 8 near Bharuch on January 1.

“We have arrested one person identified as Ashwin Nayka. Based on his identity established by CCTV footage, we picked up Nayaka from Padra in Vadodara and arrested him later,” Bharuch District Superintendent of Police (DSP) Gautam Parmar told The Indian Express.

The DSP said Nayaka is a resident of Kamrej taluka of Surat district and works with a brick kiln. “He was on his way to Vadodara when the accident took place. He has confessed that while attempting to overtake two vehicles from the wrong side, he could not see the monks due to fog and ran them over,” said Parmar.
Police said they had analysed CCTV footages of Karjan toll plaza and kept a watch on Nayka.

Jain monks Gyanshekhar Vijay Maharaj and Hastigiri Maharaj, both of Valsad, were killed on the spot when they were allegedly hit by the truck from behind, around eight km from Bharuch town towards Vadodara on NH-8. They were reportedly on their way to Asuriya village from Bharuch on feet when they met with the accident. The truck driver had sped away after the accident.

The death of the monks had sparked protests across the state with the Jain community alleging that the two were “murdered”.

During funeral procession and cremation of the monks, thousands of Jains had blocked the NH-8. Police had to resort to lathicharge to make the traffic normal on the highway. But angry mourners retaliated with pelting stones at police.

The lathicharge incident had enraged the community all the more and they had demanded suspension of Vadodra range I G Sashikant Trivedi and a probe by CID.

The forensic report stated that the sample of the clothes of the monks matched with the tyre marks collected from the spot.

The state DGP has decided to reward the police and forensic officers for the arrest.

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