Drunk SUV driver ploughs through Sangli festival crowd; 4 cops, 2 minors among 11 injured

Kolhapur: At least 11 people, including four police personnel and two minors, were injured on Sunday evening when a speeding SUV ploughed through a crowd after hitting multiple vehicles at the Krushnamai festival, near the Ganapati temple on Tilak Road, in Sangli city.The police said an angry mob chased and intercepted the SUV, thrashed 26-year-old Praniket Panchal, the driver from Barshi Road in Latur, and damaged the vehicle. The SUV was being used as passenger transport, the police said.The police said that tourists from Latur had come to Sangli for Ganapati darshan. Panchal had dropped the tourists and then consumed alcohol. According to medical tests done at Sangli Civil Hospital, Panchal was driving the vehicle under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident."The driver could not control the SUV, and first hit several vehicles. As people started chasing him, he got scared and tried to drive away. In the process, he again hit several people gathered along the road towards the river ghat where the festival is going on. The injured people have suffered fractures, and all are out of danger. We have registered a case against the driver and have confiscated the vehicle," said inspector Arun Sugaonkar, of the Sangli police station.Among those injured were a seven-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy. Police personnel deployed for bandobast and crowd management at the festival venue were also among those injured. The police said around 20 vehicles were damaged, and people around attacked the SUV, breaking its windshields and headlights."As the driver was beaten up, we took him to the civil hospital, where he is undergoing treatment. The medical reports confirm that he had consumed alcohol," added inspector Sugaonkar.The inspector said the formal process to arrest and produce the driver in front of the court will be done after the doctors discharge him from the hospital.