SUV driver held after e-rickshaw collision kills two in Lucknow
The e-rickshaw, carrying eight passengers from Nigohan, was on its way to the city for Khatu Shyam Darshan. Locals said the SUV struck the three-wheeler at high speed, throwing passengers onto the road. The injured were rushed to Civil Hospital, where one died on the spot and another later at the trauma centre. Four others remain critical.
Police arrested Akshay Pratap on Sunday, the driver of a speeding SUV that collided with an e-rickshaw carrying devotees near Baniya Bazar in the Cantonment area on Saturday evening. The SUV has been seized, and a case registered at Cantonment police station.
The e-rickshaw, carrying eight passengers from Nigohan, was on its way to the city for Khatu Shyam Darshan. Locals said the SUV struck the three-wheeler at high speed, throwing passengers onto the road. The injured were rushed to Civil Hospital, where one died on the spot and another later at the trauma centre. Four others remain critical.
A police statement said, “Akshay Pratap, son of Jai Pratap and a resident of PGI, Lucknow, fled the spot after the collision but was later taken into custody. The SUV involved has been seized.” A case was registered at Cantonment police station on the complaint of Mahaveer Prasad of Raebareli under sections 125(A), 125(B), 281, 324(4) and 106(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Police said preliminary investigation points to rash driving. Eyewitnesses alleged the driver appeared intoxicated, but SHO Cantonment Gurmeet Kaur said, “He has denied consuming alcohol. Medical examination is underway.”
The deceased were identified as Mohit, son of Ramsnehi of Kurmi Kheda village, and Umesh, son of Jagdish Sahu of Nigohan. CCTV footage shows the crash threw passengers nearly 10 feet. Eyewitnesses said four lay motionless while others groaned in pain.
Mohit’s father said Mohit, a daily wage labourer, had quietly left for Khatu Shyam Darshan, and the family learned of his death hours later.
Umesh, the e-rickshaw driver, married Kirti in 2022, and leaves behind a two-year-old son, and six-month-old daughter. “By the time we reached the hospital, doctors declared him dead,” said his brother-in-law Karan.
