Ratlam, July 13 (IANS) A pediatrician and his 80-year-old father-in-law were killed and five other family members were injured in a road accident on the Ratlam-Indore four-lane highway in the early hours of Sunday, police said on Monday.

Dr. Manish Singh, a pediatrician at the Government Children’s Hospital in Ratlam, died on the spot, while Shivnarayan Rajauria, 80, succumbed to injuries during treatment at the government Medical College Hospital on Monday morning.

The accident occurred around 3:30 A.M. near a small culvert divider before the toll plaza past Dharad, when the MG Hector car (MP-04-CZ-5519) they were travelling in rammed into the divider, officials said.

According to police, the vehicle was being driven by Ajay Gupta and was on its way to Ratlam from Bhopal.

“The preliminary investigation suggests the driver dozed off at the wheel, due to which the vehicle went out of control and hit the divider of the culvert,” Bilpank Station House Officer Ayub Khan told IANS.

The impact was severe and the front portion of the car was mangled, trapping the occupants inside.

Upon receiving information, an ambulance from the toll plaza and a police team from Bilpank police station reached the spot.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Samsu Agrawal and his team, with help from locals, extricated the injured and rushed them to the Government Medical College Hospital in Ratlam.

Doctors declared Dr. Singh dead on arrival. Rajauria, who was critically injured, died during treatment on Monday.

The other occupants of the car, who sustained injuries and are undergoing treatment, have been identified as Dr. Singh’s wife Stephanie Gupta, their two daughters Raina and Sayana, aged 7, driver Ajay Gupta and his wife Lovelina Gupta.

Police said Dr. Singh, a native of Gwalior, had been posted in Ratlam for about a year. Earlier, he served as Deputy Director with the National Health Mission in Bhopal.

In June, he also held additional charge as Chief Medical and Health Officer of Ratlam for over a month during the leave of then CMHO Dr. Sandhya Belsare. A case has been registered and further investigation is underway, police added.

–IANS

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