Truck on wrong side rams lead car in MLA convoy, cop dies

Noida: A sub-inspector died and a head constable was grievously injured after a truck driving on the wrong side crashed into the lead escort vehicle of BJP MLA Rajesh Chaudhary’s convoy near Noida International Airport on Sunday afternoon.The accident took place around 1pm on the link road connecting Yamuna Expressway with the newly inaugurated airport in Jewar. Chaudhary, the MLA from Mant in Mathura, was heading to the airport to catch a flight to Hyderabad when the convoy was hit.Rajendra Singh Yadav, the sub-inspector who died, was posted at Mathura police lines and deployed on the MLA’s security detail. Head constable Sultan Singh, who was travelling in the same vehicle, is battling critical head injuries.Ravi Shankar Nim, DCP (Greater Noida), said the dumper truck collided head-on with the police vehicle leading the convoy.“As the convoy entered the airport link road, the truck speeding down the wrong side crashed into the lead vehicle. The MLA’s car was immediately behind it. Police from Jewar reached the spot as soon as information came in,” the DCP said.Both injured policemen were rushed to a nearby private hospital, where doctors declared Yadav dead.

Sultan was wheeled into the emergency ward.The truck driver, Aneesh from Jewar, was arrested on the spot and the vehicle seized. An FIR was lodged under BNS sections 281 (rash driving) and 106 (causing death by negligence).Senior officers said heavy vehicles have been using unauthorised cuts to access Yamuna Expressway because the main connecting road is still incomplete. “Such shortcuts are increasingly becoming a risky passage,” an officer said.During questioning, the truck driver allegedly claimed the vehicle’s jack had malfunctioned and he was on his way to a mechanic when the crash occurred.“He said he was speeding and lost control after spotting the convoy. He swerved left when he should have turned right,” the officer said.The accident comes barely a week after another fatal crash on an under-construction airport link road. A 45-year-old hospital manager from Faridabad died last week after his motorcycle plunged into a 7ft pit near Dankaur while travelling towards the airport corridor.