A truck allegedly hijacked by a man suspected to be mentally deranged on Tuesday ploughed through busy thoroughfares in Satna town of Madhya Pradesh, killing at least seven persons and injuring over 36 people, 17 of them seriously, the police said.
The truck, which was loaded with cement, was on its way from Maihar to Satna. After it reached Lehargavan, it was allegedly hijacked at knifepoint by an unidentified person who forced the truck driver to leave the seat and took control of the wheel, they said.
The truck then entered the city from Najeerabad area inside the town late this afternoon and hit a number of persons on its way in Jackson Chowk and Bihari Chowk area, the police said.
About 36 people were injured and over 100 vehicles, including motorcycles, cars, hand-pulled cart, autos were damaged in the incident before it came to halt at Pannilal Chourha, the police said.
Satna collector Mohanlal Meena has confirmed seven deaths so far and announced an ex-gratia of `one lakh each to the kin of those killed in the accident, `50,000 to seriously injured and `15,000 to those who suffered minor injuries.
A mob went on the rampage following the incident hurling stones at the truck and thrashing the driver who was apprehended by police. The mob also pelted Kotwali police station and a hospital with stones, prompting police to baton charge to control the situation. Meanwhile, section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) prohibiting assembly of more than ten people has been imposed in the town and additional forces were rushed to the spot, police said.