SHO suspended, tractor driver absconding, CM Adityanath meets bereaved families

Kanpur: A day after 26 people died in a tractor-trolley accident here, a station house officer was suspended for alleged "dereliction of duty" while the tractor driver was still absconding.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who visited the injured at the hospital and also met the bereaved families at Kortha village on Sunday, gave a slew of directions including a complete ban on the use of loading vehicles like tractor-trolley, pick-ups, etc for public transportation in the state.

Two telephone helplines were also announced to report violations of traffic rules.

District Magistrate of Kanpur Vishak G Ayyar on Sunday told PTI that of the 26 dead, 14 are women and 10 are children.

"The SHO of Saadh police station has been suspended for dereliction of duty," he said.

A senior police official said that the accident spot was near Bhadeuna village, barely a kilometre from the Saadh police station, but the SHO ''reached there after around one hour.

"The death toll stands at 26, while the number of injured is nine. There were 35 passengers on the ill-fated tractor-trolley. The post-mortem examination was conducted at night. The cremation is being carried out at Deori Ghat in Maharajpur," the DM said.

According to the eyewitnesses, the tractor was being driven at a high speed despite requests by the passengers to slow down, Additional Director General of Police (Kanpur zone) Bhanu Bhaskar told reporters. "Subsequently, the driver lost control over the tractor and it overturned. The women and children came under the trolley," he said.

He said that the tractor driver, Raju, is absconding.

The victims were on their way to Ghatampur after attending "mundan" (tonsuring baby for the first time) ceremony of Raju's son at the Chandrika Devi temple in Fatehpur, an official said.

Raju's mother Ram Janki (55) and daughter Riya (8) were among those killed in the tragedy, the official added.