Mysore/Mysuru: With nothing more than pieces of shattered windshield discarded by the side of a road and a trail of leaking engine oil on the road, the V.V. Puram Traffic Police tracked down a speeding cab that rammed into a bike killing a 27-year-old youth last night. The vehicle was traced within one hour of the accident that occurred just after the clock struck 12 am, signalling the arrival of 2021. 

Probably this was the first accident of 2021 involving a death that has been reported within the city limits. The Police doggedly pursued the case and was able to trace the hit-and-run vehicle. Now efforts are on to bring the cab driver to book. 

The incident occurred at 12.10 am and the victim is B.Y. Komalesh, a native of Hassan and was staying in city along with his brother for professional reasons. Komalesh is the son of Yogesh, a resident of Bekkalli, K. Hosakote Hobli of Alur Taluk in Hassan District. Komalesh was staying in Vijayanagar Fourth Stage along with his brother at a rented accommodation. He worked with a construction company. 

Accident just after 12 am

He was returning from office after working late into the night on his Pulsar bike (KA-13-EG-6155) and it was just past midnight as he was heading towards Vijayanagar Fourth Stage from the Third Stage. He had to cross the Ring Road to enter the Fourth Stage and while he was in the process, a speeding Swift Dezire yellow registration board car (KA-09-D-6650) rammed into Komalesh’s bike. The car was proceeding from Bogadi to Hinkal.   

One of the eye-witness who was also riding a bike saw the speeding car hit the bike with great force. The impact of the accident was such that Komalesh was flung from the bike and the car’s front portion was mangled and its windshield broken. After the accident, the car sped away and the eye-witness chased the car. 

Eye-witness chases car

After chasing the car till the Hinkal KSRTC Bus Stand, the eye-witness (name not made public yet) lost trace of the vehicle. Meanwhile, the V.V. Puram Traffic Police, who were on regular night patrolling, got information about the accident and a team rushed to the spot. Arrangement was made to shift Komalesh to hospital. 

Komalesh had suffered severe head injuries and was profusely bleeding. He was rushed to Brindavan Hospital in Jayalakshmipuram and was later shifted to K.R. Hospital where he was declared brought dead. 

Windshield shattered

The V.V. Puram Traffic Police interceptor vehicle proceeded towards Hinkal as information was passed by the eye-witness that the vehicle driver had escaped. The eye-witness told the Police that the windshield of the car had been shattered and the front portion of the car was mangled. The Police knew that the vehicle could not travel beyond a limited distance and began scouting for the killer car. 

At one stretch of the Ring Road, Police found pieces of the windshield discarded by the side of the road. As the Police stopped to pick up the windshield pieces, they noticed an oil spill on the road. The oil from the damaged engine was leaking and the Police closely followed the oil trail. Lights of the interceptor vehicle were fully switched on as the leaked oil had to be traced. 

Driver flees spot

The Police teams in three vehicles proceeded two-and-a-half kilometres on the road and found the car parked at a vacant plot by the side of the road. The driver, however, had fled from the spot. The registration number of the vehicle was traced and the Police have now got the information that the owner of the car stays in Nanjangud.  

V.V. Puram Traffic Inspector Aruna Kumari, Sub-Inspector S.V. Sugunavathi, ASI Muralidhar, Interceptor vehicle driver Yogesh, Krishnamurthy and Inspector’s vehicle driver Janardhan were part of the operation. 

The family has been informed about the accident and they are rushing to Mysuru from Hassan. Komalesh’s brother and his colleagues had gathered near K.R. Hospital mortuary.