PANJIM: A motorcyclist flipped over Old Mandovi Bridge and plummeted into the river when the two-wheeler he was riding was hit by a rent-a-car on Thursday evening.
The victim was identified as Javed Sadekar, originally from Margao and currently residing with his wife and three minor sons at Nachinola. He was working for a casino company and was proceeding to Panjim for work when the tragedy occurred.
The accident occurred when the speeding rent-a-car was trying to overtake another vehicle on the old Mandovi Bridge. The impact of the accident was such that the biker was flung into air and later fell into the river.
Immediately police and Fire and Emergency Services (FES) personnel rushed to the spot and rescue operation was taken up. However, before they could reach cruise boats parked in the river rushed to the rescue of the bike rider. However, they could not find him when they reached the spot where he had fallen.
Speaking to reporters, Superintendent of Police, North Goa, Akshat Kaushal, said, “At around 5.30 pm we received information that there was an accident between a motorcycle and a vehicle. As we received the information we alerted the Fire Services, Navy and Coast Guard and other relevant agencies. Rescue operation has been launched to find the person who has been injured. Coast Guard has conducted a sortie by a helicopter. We have also called deep sea divers from the Navy. Our focus is on rescue. We are trying to reach the family through registration of the vehicle number.”
The SP North said the suspected tourist car driver has been detained.
“The car driver has sustained minor injuries. The bike as well as the car has been taken into custody by the police. The accused will be sent for medical examination to see if it was a case of drunken driving,” he said.
Panjim Station Fire Officer (SFO) Rupesh Sawant said, “We received a call at around 5.15 pm stating that one person has fallen into the river. We immediately rushed to the spot. Cruise boat operators told that they too had seen the bike rider falling into the river. They tried to save him but they could not.”
Later, the helmet of the rider was found floating in the water.
This is the second incident and the third (likely) fatality of a biker in less than a week. Recently, two cousin brothers were killed after their bike hit a car driven by Telangana tourists.
Meanwhile, the accused driver of the rent-a-car Ankit Triparty from Odisha was detained by the Panjim Police. Head Constable Nitin Sawant is conducting investigations under the guidance of Panjim PI Vijaykumar Chodankar.
Coastal Police vessels inoperable
PANJIM: It was found that patrolling vessels of Coastal Police were inoperable. Even there is no area earmarked for parking the vessels. Locals said that the man who fell down from the bridge could have been saved if there could have been a patrolling vessel. They demanded that the coastal police personnel be deployed near the bridge as it is required keeping in view the number of accident taking place on the bridges