Three of family die, girl missing as car falls in canal

A protest by a group of people at Pari Chowk in Greater Noida on Saturday brought to the fore a mysterious “accident” involving a Maruti Eecco in Badaun on Friday in which three of a family were killed, three others found unconscious and three more reported missing.

The protesters claimed that the three died after their vehicle plunged into a canal in Badaun and alleged police inaction in tracing the missing.

On Friday morning, Nawada village residents Raje Bhadana, his wife Dharmavati, daughter Preeti, son Lalit and relatives Sheetal, Rajender and Preeti had gone to a shrine in Badaun with a tantric, Saleem alias Saleemuddin, in a Maruti Eecco.

Some passersby spotted the car lying in the canal in Badaun and fished it out with the help of the police. They found three bodies in the car that were later identified as that of Raje, Dharmavati and their relative Preeti.

Around the same time, a kilometre away from the spot, some passersby spotted three persons lying unconscious at an eatery that was yet to open for the day. They were identified as Lalit, Sheetal and Rajender. The Badaun police took them to a local hospital where their condition is said to be stable. However, they are not fit to make a statement, the police said.

Late Saturday evening, Saleem’s body was also found on the banks of the canal.

Raje’s daughter Preeti and driver Omveer are still missing, the police said.

Saturday’s protest also triggered a jam on roads leading to Pari Chowk for at least an hour. Senior police officers, including SP (rural) Abhishek Yadav, reached the spot and pacified the group.

“The daughter of the deceased is missing. We are in touch with the Badaun police to get details of the investigation,” Yadav said.

During the protest, relatives of the deceased demanded an FIR against Saleem accusing him of murdering the three and abducting the teenaged girl. However, on Saturday evening, when Saleem’s body was recovered, they suspected Omveer’s role in the incident.

“It has been over 24 hours but the police failed to trace the missing girl and the driver. Omveer seems like the mastermind behind the killing and abduction. We want the city police to take up the probe,” said Ramkumar Bhadana, Raje’s cousin.

Yadav said since the incident took place in Badaun, the local police are investigating the matter.

“We have launched a manhunt for Omveer in the city as well . However, the probe is being done by the Badaun police. The postmortem reports are still awaited and we are yet to confirm the allegations of the relatives,” Yadav said.