Father, son die as truck hits them, driver held

Mangaluru, Sep 16: The driver of a 14-wheeler truck that fatally hit a man and his son at Uchila in Kaup taluk of Udupi district has been arrested, police sources said.

Police sources said the vehicle was identified by checking CCTV footage and its owner was contacted. He confirmed that the truck was coming from Gujarat to Mangaluru carrying plastic material.

After collecting the driver’s details, he was arrested from Ganjimutt in Mangaluru, the sources said. The incident happened on Wednesday morning. The victims- Prabhakar Kotha and his son Samarth- had come to Kaup from Belagavi to enroll the boy in a school there.

Both were standing on the roadside when the truck hit them and sped away. The man died on the spot, while his son, who was critically injured, died at a hospital on Thursday. Police also said the driver, identified as Shekhar, made a shocking revelation that the vehicle was being driven by the cleaner of the truck who was a minor.

A case has been registered at the Padubidri police station under IPC sections 279 (rash driving), 304 (culpable homicide) and 304 (a) (causing death by negligence). A detailed investigation is on, the sources said.