Man dies in car accident in Kota on way to his wife’s father’s funeral

A man was killed and his wife and eight-year-old son were injured in a traffic accident as they attempted to attend their father’s last rites, police said on Saturday.

The driver of the taxi that the Mumbai-based couple had hired in Jaipur was also injured when the vehicle collided with a truck near Chatarganj village on National Highway 52 early in the morning.

The family had come to Jaipur by plane from Mumbai.

According to police, Rajat Rastogi (40) and Anubha (38), both chartered accountants and residents of Alwar district, travelled to Jaipur with their son Athar on Friday evening. On reaching the state capital, they hired a taxi to attend the funeral and last rites of Anubha’s father, who died on Friday.

The taxi, suspected of speeding, crashed into a truck near Chatarganj village on NH 52 around 4 am, said Pawan Kumar Meena, Station House Officer (SHO) of Hindoli police station. All four occupants of the car, including taxi driver Kuldeepak, were rushed to the Community Health Centre in Hindoli where doctors on arrival declared Rajat dead while the other three were unconscious, said SHO Meena.

The injured were given first aid and then referred to Bundi District Hospital, he said.

The exact reason for the incident will become clear only once the statements of the injured, who are currently in an unconscious state, are recorded, the SHO said.