Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Aug 28: Personal Assistant of Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri, his wife and three kids were among seven persons killed in a car accident near Narian in Chingus area of district Rajouri this afternoon.
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The mishap took place at around 4.25 pm when Mehmood Ahmed (42), PA to Deputy Commissioner Rajouri, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, was returning from pilgrimage in Uttar Pradesh to his home at Rajouri town today. He was on leave since August 23 for this purpose.
Family sources said that Mehmood long with his wife, two minor sons and a daughter, younger brother and sister left for Rajouri from Jammu at around 1 pm in his white Maruti-Celerio car bearing registration No. JK11B/ 4300. It was raining heavily in the area and the road was slippery. The vehicle was believed to have slipped into the flooded nallah along the road side after car went out of control. It fell on boulders first and then landed into water. The water level was then rising in the nallah.
Another vehicle following this car, noticed the mishap and the people onboard immediately informed Rajouri Police and locals. Some locals of the area who first came to know about the mishap, moved to the spot but heavy rain with thunder-storm disrupted the rescue operation. The locals launched rescue operation before the arrival of police party from nearby Police Post, Chingus.
SSP Rajouri Yougal Manhas and DC Rajouri, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary also immediately rushed to the spot after they came to know about the mishap. They supervised the rescue operation there for some time. All the five persons including a minor son of Mehmood were killed on the spot. Two minor children- a boy and girl in seriously injured conditions were rushed to nearby Nowshera hospital but they succumbed to injuries there after some time. All the dead bodies were later shifted to District Hospital, Rajouri for postmortem and completion of all the legal formalities.
The deceased have been identified as Mehmood Ahmed (42 yrs), his brother Abdul Aziz (32 yrs), both sons of Jaffer Ali; their sister- Akhter Begum (25); Jameela begum (38), wife of Mehmood Ahmed, two minor sons of Mehmood- Rehan (11 yrs), Husnain (7) and daughter- Alisha (9 yrs). They originally belong to Gambir Muglan in Manjakote but now settled in Rajouri town.
SSP Rajouri, Manhas told the Excelsior that it was raining heavily and there was night like darkness in the area due to thick black clouds over sky when the accident took place. As per inputs received Mehmood himself was driving vehicle and possibly due to some error of judgment due to bad weather, the vehicle rolled down into the nallah at a curve.
He said that vehicle had partially submerged in flooded water of nallah but people prevented the vehicle to wash away in the flood as they reached immediate after the accident. The vehicle was first crashed against the big stones and boulders after fall from the hilly road and then landed into the water. The people moved inside the water and evacuated the injured kids and also removed dead bodies at the bank.
Immediately after hearing the news of death of entire family of DC’s PA, Mehmood, who was said to be very humble and soft spoken, the people of his locality were shell shocked. They rushed towards the accident site and the hospital. The market in the area was also closed. The bodies of the deceased family members after postmortem were handed over to the relatives this evening.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has expressed deep shock and grief over the tragic death of seven members of a family in a road accident near Rajouri today.
In her message, the Chief Minister described the deaths in road accident as unfortunate. She said the growing number of road accidents in the hilly areas of the State call for review of status of passenger safety, vehicles and road conditions and other parameters. She conveyed her sympathies to the families of those killed in accident.
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