Cop killed as police vehicle hits boar on Wardha Road

NAGPUR: Helping a mentally ill woman reach her home turned tragic for a police party when the vehicle they were travelling in hit a stray animal on Saturday late night at National Highway 7 near Jamtha Stadium. The driver of the vehicle, constable Khushal Shegokar, 45, was killed while four others sustained injuries.
TOI has been reporting about the accidents caused due to stray animals on road but administration are turning a blind eye to the problem.It couldn’t immediately be ascertained if the animal involved was a wild boar or common pig.
The injured have been identified as API Snehal Thorat, constable Sajid Sayed, constable Harsha Shende and a citizen Chhaya Dhopte who sustained minor injuries. The police party belonged to the Buti Bori police station and was taking Chhaya to her home in Khaparkheda.
Police said Chhaya, who is mentally ill, was seen wandering by some local residents in Thakur Layout. They took her to Buti Bori police station. Cops learnt from her that she hailed from Khaparkheda. They contacted Chhaya’s father who stated she had been missing for four to five days.
Due to lockdown, Chhaya’s father could not come to Buti Bori to pick her up, so cops decided to take her home. Near Jamtha Stadium the animal suddenly came before the vehicle. Shegokar hit the animal and crashed the vehicle into a roadside nullah. The animal was also killed.
A passerby informed police control room. Hingna police rushed to the spot. Meanwhile, a private bus driver also stopped to help the injured cops. He took them to a hospital in city where Shegokar was declared brought dead while others were admitted for treatment.
Hingna police on Sunday morning filed a case of accidental death.