Drunken AEE drives car, causes death of retired BSNL employee

Mangaluru: A government official of Mangaluru city has been taken into custody by the police for knocking down and killing a pedestrian, a retired Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) employee, in a case of drunken driving near Circuit House here.

The official, identified as Shanmugam, an Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) of Minor Irrigation and Ground Water Department, Dakshina Kannada, was arrested on charges of knocking down A Ananda (62) who worked for a firm in Udupi. Ananda was walking towards his house after getting off a bus when the car being driven by Shanmugam knocked him down, later he was declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital.

According to the police statement, "investigations revealed that AEE, Shanmugam was in an inebriated condition at the time of driving the car. Footage of the incident was also captured on a nearby CCTV camera that was recovered by the police. It showed the car coming fast from the direction of the Circuit House and hitting a barricade on the roadside, before knocking down Ananda from behind and tossing him some distance."

Ananda's wife Lalitha was anguished by the news of her husband's death and lodged a complaint with the police accusing Shanmugam of culpable homicide and negligence under section 304 of the Indian Penal Code. Reacting to Anand's death, Lalitha released a video stating that her husband was walking back after attending a meeting in Udupi when the tragedy struck him . She demanded that the accused official be jailed.

The Mangaluru Traffic East police officials are currently investigating the case and said that they have charged Shanmugam with culpable homicide after confirming that he was in a drunken state while driving the car.