Bengaluru: Three students were killed in a road crash on the airport road near the Chikkajala fort in the early hours of Thursday.
According to Chikkajala traffic police, the incident occurred around 1.30 am, when the trio identified as Suchith, Rohith, and Harshavardhan, fourth-year BSc students at the College of Horticulture, GKVK, were riding a bike towards the city.
Police suspect the initial crash into a heavy goods vehicle happened when Suchith, the bike rider, was trying to switch lanes at a high speed. Just a few minutes after they fell, an unidentified vehicle ran over them and sped away. Police are yet to identify this absconding driver and his vehicle.
There were reportedly two other friends on another bike but they have not been traced as on Thursday evening, noted a police source.
The trio died on the spot. “They might have sustained grievous injuries, owing to the impact of the goods vehicle. We don't know the exact speed they were riding at,” said the source. Their bodies were taken to Dr B R Ambedkar Medical College and Hospital, KG Halli, for post-mortem and their blood samples have been collected to check for alcohol.
'Had gone towards the airport'
Professors from the college told DH that the students had just begun their seventh semester this Monday.
Suchith lived in Hebbal in Kempapura. He was celebrating his 21st birthday on Wednesday and most likely wanted to spend time with his friends, said a professor. Both Rohit, who hailed from Chikballapur, and Harshvardhan, who hailed from Srinivaspur, Kolar, lived in the hostel.
Dr GSK Swamy, dean, College of Horticulture, explained that the hostel held a Ganesha idol immersion programme within the campus on Wednesday night, after which the students would have left.
"Normally, nobody is given permission to leave the campus after 10 pm according to our security guidelines. They reportedly informed the security that they wanted to drop someone at the airport and left. We learnt of the incident around 3.15 am and rushed to the hospital," he told DH.
The college held a public mourning on Thursday morning.
Police have filed a case under sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 281 (rash driving) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and have launched an investigation to nab the absconding driver.