Pick-up truck driver arrested for fatally knocking down a pedestrian and later dumping his body at Shikrapur in Pune

Pune: Pimpri Chinchwad police arrested a pick-up truck driver on Saturday for dumping the body of a road accident victim at Shikrapur instead of moving him to a hospital following an accident on Thursday.

According to the police, a pedestrian, Manojkumar Ramji Vishwakarma (35), a resident of Khalumbre in Khed taluka, died after an ‘unidentified’ vehicle hit him on the Chakan-Talegaon road at Khalumbre around 10.30am on Thursday. Vishwakarma was working with a private company located nearby and was staying in a rented house. A case against the unidentified four-wheeler was registered with the Uttar Mhalunge MIDC police station. Police tracked down the owner of the pick-up truck and later identified the driver as Mehboob Lakib Mohammad Shaikh (40), a resident of Parner in Ahilyanagar district. He was arrested on Saturday and later produced before a court and the court remanded him in police custody till Tuesday.

The police examined CCTV footage from the accident spot and the surrounding areas. Later, police identified the vehicle involved as a pick-up truck and also found its registration number.

Explaining how the incident unfolded, the police said that the investigation revealed that the driver had taken the seriously injured Vishwakarma with him instead of immediately taking him to a hospital for medical treatment. Police said the victim did not receive timely medical attention and subsequently died. The pick-up truck driver allegedly dumped Vishwakarma’s body on a road at Shikrapur and sped away. Police claimed that the driver was aware that his negligent actions could result in the victim’s death. The police invoked section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against the pick-up truck driver.