Young CEO behind Biodiversity Flyover accident says he wasn't speeding, blames design

The Telangana High Court asked for a response from the state and directed that the accused not be arrested till December 12.

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The man whose car fell off the Biodiversity flyover in Hyderabad, killing one person, will not be arrested for now. The Telangana High Court on Monday directed the state home secretary and the police not to arrest Kalvakuntla Krishna Milan, the accused in the Biodiversity flyover accident that killed a woman named Satyaveni, and injured several others in Hyderabad, for a week. The court was hearing Milan’s petition where he claimed that he was not driving at a high speed -- the Cyberabad police had said that he was driving at 104 kmph.

On November 23, the Volkswagen GT car that was being driven by Milan had overshot the Biodiversity flyover in Hyderabad resulting in the death of P Satyaveni and injuring three others. The Cyberabad police had said that he was travelling at the speed of 104 kmph while the permissible speed on the flyover is just 40 kmph. He was also issued a ticket for speeding. However, Milan has now claimed that he was traveling at 40-50 kmph, and that he was not speeding. Further, he has blamed the design of the flyover for the accident, reported Times of India.

Milan's lawyer A Prabhakar Rao is seemingly banking on technicalities of the case. The initial case, at Raidurgam police station, was registered under Section 304 (a) of the IPC for negligence and rash driving, a bailable offence. On December 3, the police added section 304 of the IPC for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, which is non-bailable. The counsel for the accused told that court that the police added the non-bailable sections only with the motive of arrest. The court was told that the sharp 'S type' curve on the flyover was the reason Milan's car hit the wall of the flyover and tumbled over onto the road below.

The lawyer also pointed at another accident that took place on the flyover that had killed two persons. Rao stated that in that case, the FIR was filed under bailable sections and that the accused in that case was let out on bail. The case Rao is referring to is the accident that took place on November 11, when the driver, a software engineer, was driving in an inebriated condition and caused an accident that had killed two people who were taking selfies on the flyover.

The GHMC has earlier denied that there was any issue with the design of the flyover. Venkata Rama, the Superintendent engineer for Serilingampally zone under the GHMC limits, had earlier told TNM, “The statements calling into question the design of the flyover are immature...There are enough and more signboards to inform drivers to reduce speed on the bridge as per Indian Road Congress (IRC) rules. The rule specifies where to place which signboard, these things are well-defined."

The judge has now asked the state to respond to Milan's petition. The counsel for the Home Department sought time to ascertain the same and the judge directed authorities not to arrest Krishna Milan till the court hears the case again. The matter has been posted to December 12.

After the accident, Milan had suffered a fracture of the collarbone and had undergone surgery. He was discharged from care hospital on December 8.