CHANDIGARH: A drunk driver drove his truck over eight people sleeping on a pavement in Chandigarh a little past Sunday midnight and killed five of them because some of the victims had rebuked him for urinating in public . Four of the deceased belonged to one family from Rajasthan.

Sharma Chaudhary, 23, went on the killing spree at around 12.30am and then ran away after leaving the truck near the accident spot. The truck’s cleaner, Ajay, was caught and handed over to the police.

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Police have charged Sharma, a resident of Bihar, with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. They are hoping to catch and question him before charging him with more serious offences.

The deceased from Rajasthan were identified as Jassu Ram (55), Natha Ram (18), Jagdish (23) and Sardara Singh 31. The other victim, Harinder Yadav (25), was from Uttar Pradesh. Natha was Jassu’s son and Jagdish was his son-in-law. Sardara was Jassu’s cousin.

Witness told TOI that the four victims from Rajasthan had not even rebuked Sharma and were in no way involved in the altercation. Apparently, the three injured men, who are recovering at a government hospital, had argued with the driver.

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Jitender Yadav, a co-worker of Harinder, said: “Sharma was urinating in the open near the place where we cook food. Some of us objected and pushed him away. He left the place threatening he would teach us a lesson. His truck was parked nearby. We did not expect him to cause such a big tragedy over such a small issue.”

Police officials said the four Rajasthan victims came to Chandigarh regularly to sell fenugreek (methi) during the season. Harinder was a labourer who helped unload trucks. The pavement where the five men were killed is adjacent to the back gates of three liquor vends.

Sources said after being humiliated by the workers, Sharma drank a bottle of whisky along with Ajay sitting on the top of his truck. “Sharma took a round of the parking lot at full speed and then drove the truck onto the pavement crushing all eight men sleeping there,” said Sanjay, another witness and the complainant in the case. “He tried to escape with the vehicle but the truck stalled after hitting an iron dustbin. Ajay was nabbed on the spot.”

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The truck, bearing a Haryana registration number, belongs to one Sunil Sharma who works as a manager with Zamindara Transports. Sunil told TOI that Sharma was employed with him for the past eight months and had recently become a regular drinker.

ASP Guriqbal Singh Sidhu said raids were being conducted to arrest the absconding driver. “Though we have recorded the version of several persons claiming the driver had been rebuked, we want to confront the accused with this version before taking further legal action,” Sidhu said.

Toll could have been higher

Police officers believe it is a miracle that only five people were killed during Sharma Chaudhary’s killing spree. The toll could easily have been higher given that he drove the vehicle in an extremely narrow lane between two shanties, in which around 10 people were sleeping.