Locals stage dharna after lorry mows down 2

HYDERABAD: An engineering student and a pedestrian were crushed under the wheels of a speeding lorry near Vanasthalipuram on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway on Thursday morning, sparking protests by family members and locals demanding action against the driver. Police said the driver of the lorry lost control and ran over the pedestrian and a student riding a two-wheeler. The incident took place near the VMR Grand restaurant in Vanasthalipuram.  Vanasthalipuram police sub-inspector B Raju said the lorry with registration number AP 29 U 5399 was coming from Hayathnagar. “The lorry first crushed a pedestrian who was crossing the road and later hit a two-wheeler,” Raju said.V Harishwara Chary (22), a resident of Sai Auto Nagar, was hit while crossing the road and he died on the spot. Police suspect the driver might have panicked after hitting the pedestrian and increased his speed and hit the two-wheeler. An engineering student, S Aditya (21) of HUDA Colony in Vanasthalipuram was also killed in the accident. He was pursuing BTech from SLC Engineering College at Pochampally of Nalgonda district. “We got news of his death just 15 minutes after he left home,” said the family members of the student.Locals and family members of the deceased staged a dharna on the highway protesting frequent accidents on the road and failure of police and municipal authorities to curb rash driving. Traffic on the busy highway came to a standstill for a couple of hours.Police have registered a case under Section 304 A (rash and negligent act leading to death) against the absconding driver.