NRI among two dead as car crashes into tractor-trolley

Phagwara : Two people, including an Australia-based NRI, died and one sustained serious injuries when the taxi they were travelling in collided with a sugarcane-loaded tractor-trolley at the Sugar Mill flyover on National Highway 44 here, police said on Friday.

The incident occurred on Wednesday night, resulting in the death of NRI Dilpreet Singh (28) and the taxi driver, Yugraj Masih (38), they said. Singh’s mother, Gurinder Kaur, sustained serious injuries, Investigating Officer (IO) and Assistant Sub-Inspector of City Police Station Phagwara, Jatinder Pal, said.

Kaur had travelled to Australia in November to meet her son who was settled in Melbourne, he added. Singh had recently obtained permanent residency in Australia and was returning with his mother to their home in Model Town Extension, Dugri Road, Ludhiana, when the accident occurred, the officer said.

Singh’s father, Harpreet Singh, told police that his wife had called him around 9:15 pm on Wednesday to inform him that they had just left the airport in Amritsar and were in the taxi. He received another call from his wife at 11:33 pm that night, informing him about the accident, the ASI said.

Kaur sustained serious injuries and was initially hospitalised at Civil Hospital Phagwara but was later shifted to DMC, Ludhiana, as her condition was critical. She had a broken jaw and several other serious injuries from the accident, said the ASI, who met her at the hospital in Ludhiana on Thursday.

On Harpreet Singh’s complaint, a case was registered under relevant provisions of the law against the absconding tractor driver, the ASI said. The tractor-trolley was impounded and the driver will be ar-rested soon, he added.