Journalist Sandeep Sharma was crushed to his death by a dumper truck earlier today. Mr. Sharma was on a motorcycle when the truck, coming from behind, ran over him, crushing and killing him on the spot. And the entire incident was caught on CCTV.
CCTV footage reveals that the dumper truck makes a sharp turn into Sandeep Sharma’s path before running him over. The truck then quickly changes direction and avoids a pedestrian on the road. It’s unclear whether the actions by the truck driver were intentional. Trucks have large blind spots on the sides and are known to accidentally brush against two wheelers riding alongside. However, this incident happened when the truck clearly behind the two wheeler, with a quick direction change from the driver.
For now, the Madhya Pradesh (MP) police has constituted an Special Investigations Team (SIT) to probe the death of the journalist. Mr. Sharma, who had carried out sting operations against illegal sand-mining had alleged that government officials in Madhya Pradesh were colluding with illegal sand miners. He had also sought police protection after an alleged threat to his life. In the backdrop of these events, opposition political parties are calling for a CBI enquiry into this incident, which many feel is a murder than an accident.
The MP police have registered a case against the truck driver, for causing a death due to negligence. A criminal case under section 304 of the IPC has been registered, and police officials are on the lookout for the truck driver, who allegedly fled after the incident. Trucks running over two wheelers is routine in India but the way in which this particular truck swerved creates doubts. Only a thorough investigation will reveal the reasons why the truck suddenly swerved, and mowed down the journalist. The available footage is not conclusive enough.
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