Dramapur mishap snuffs out lives of three youth

MARGAO, MARCH 20
In a major tragedy, three youngsters who were traveling on a Yamaha motorcycle were killed in a road accident on the NH-17 at Dramapur in the wee hours of Saturday.
The trio, who were proceeding on the motorcycle, were knocked down by a pick-up van from behind before dawn today.
While two of the deceased are believed to have died on the spot, the third person succumbed to his injuries in GMC, Bambolim. The names of the deceased were provided as Alfred Gracias (Navelim), Mehboob alias Packlo (Davorlim) and Rickson Dias (Sirvodem).
Margao Police station in-charge, PI Santosh Desai said the accidents occurred when the speeding pick-up rammed against the motorcycle from behind. The trio, who were flung out from the two-wheeler, sustained critical injuries and succumbed. “Mehboob and Rickson were literally dead when the police reached the site. They were declared dead at Hospicio. While Alfred Gracias later succumbed to his injuries in GMC,” he added.
It is learnt that Alfred has been running a bar and restaurant at Panzorcone-Cuncolim and was returning home with the other two on the motorcycle when the accident occurred.
PI Desai said the Margao police have arrested the pick-up driver Ashok Velip, a resident of Balli for rash and negligent driving causing the death of the three persons.
The accused driver is learnt to have told the police that he lost control of the vehicle after the two-wheeler slowed down on the highway before ramming against the motorcycle.
This is the fourth major accident that has taken place on the Dramapur stretch of the NH-17 in recent times.
Senior police officers, including Sub-divisional Police officer, DySP Umesh Gaonkar, DySP Traffic Gajanan Prabhudessai, PI Santosh Desai and PI Traffic Prabodh Shirwaikar visited the site and took stock of the situation.
DySP Gaonkar admitted that the Dramapur stretch of the NH-17 has registered a rise in fatal accidents and underlined the need to conduct a study on the accident. “In today’s accident, the exact cause is being ascertained, but it needs to be found out why so many accidents are taking place on this stretch of the highway,” he said.