Hyderabad: A joyride turned fatal when a car rented by students and their friends overturned, killing four persons and gravely injuring a fifth person in Jeedimetla late on Thursday night. According to the police, three students and two private employees, all friends, had rented the car to go on a joyride to Ananthagiri hills.
Jeedimetla inspector Shankar Reddy, identified the deceased as Uday Kumar, Hema Sundar and Rama Rao who are all 19. Uday and Hema were students while Ganesh, 19 who died while undergoing treatment and Rama Rao are private employees.
The car was being driven by Rama Rao at a very high speed when it hit the divider and turned turtle.
“Hema Sundar succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment in a hospital. They had planned to start their journey from Sai Baba Nagar to Ananthagiri hills in the morning, however they changed their plan at the last minute and started at about 2 am on Friday,” said the police official.
Rama Rao learnt driving a year ago and had a licence. “He usually drove at a speed of 80 to 90 kmph. They might not have seen the divider,” said Mr Nageshwar Rao, Rao’s brother.
The car was booked in the name of Praveen, a friend of Rama Rao, to avail the discount given to a new customer.
“The accident occurred about 5-6 minutes into the trip, near Sai Baba Nagar, when the driver was speeding and may not have seen the divider. The car was found 100 metres away from the accident spot,” said the inspector. He added that none of them were found to be drunk.
A case has been registered by the Jeedimetla police under Section 304(a) of IPC (causing death by negligence).
Hema’s grandfather, Suravaram Thavati Naidu said that nine years ago his son had died in a road mishap. “My son (Hema’s father) had a tragic death in a similar way and now this. He was good student and the family was looking up to him to take care of everyone.”
Rahul, a friend of Hema Sundar, said that the accident survivor knew only Rama Rao from among the passengers.
