He died without seeing his newborn

Bangalore, March 13: Nagaraj hardly knew he would depart from the world without having a glimpse of his newborn son.

Hours after he told his relatives that he would be leaving for Deodurg to see his son, Nagaraj was lying dead in Bowring Hospital.

A lone earning member of his family, Nagaraj was married to Manjula a year ago. He had migrated to City in search of livelihood four months ago. He had two brothers, both unemployed, a married sister and parents.

The 22-year-old construction worker was mowed down by a recklessly driven SUV while he was sleeping on a pavement at HRBR Layout early Monday morning. Four others sustained injuries in the accident.

“We celebrated when we heard Nagaraj became a father. But the happiness was shortlived,” Shivayogi, a grieving relative said.

Hanumanth, who survived the accident with minor injuries, said he heard some strange noise and before he could wake up, a car dragged all the five of them.

Nagaraj was lying in a pool of blood, he said.

Hanumanth said he could not see the faces of the man and the woman who fled from the car. They were young and seemed drunk, he added.

Accidents claiming lives of migrant workers, particularly involving drunken driving by affluent people, have been on the rise in the City.

“We have taken such accidents very seriously and there is no question of sparing those responsible for the accident irrespective of their background,” Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic & Security) M A Saleem told Deccan Herald.

Saleem claimed that conviction rates in such accidents had gone up considerably.

Previous incidents

Four persons were killed when a car struck them in Indirangar on January 25, 2009. Two college students sustained injuries after they drove their SUV onto a pavement on Raj Bhavan Road on July 25, 2011. More recently, on February 11, 2012, a hotelier ran his SUV on a truck driver at Shivanachetty Garden Junction on Kamaraj Road. The victim lost his leg.