Biking buff Richard D’Souza run over by water tanker, dies
Mumbai: Richard D’souza was on a scooter with a friend when he was knocked down and sent hurtling in tanker’s path; Thane’s biking community plunged into grief
A 46-year-old biking enthusiast was crushed under the wheels of a water tanker on Saturday on Ghodbunder Road in Thane.
The police said Richard D’souza, a resident of Kolshet, was riding a scooter with a friend, Jamil Ibrahim Ansari, on the scooter toppled, sending D’souza under the wheels of the tanker. Ansari, who, too, fell had a lucky escape.
Passers-by stopped the tanker and called the police and an ambulance. D’souza was rushed to a hospital but declared dead on arrival.
The Kasarvadavali police arrested the tanker driver, Thane resident Pramod Kumar Vinodkumar Papade, 27, for rash driving and negligence. “We have seized the tanker as well as the scooter. D’souza’s body was handed over to his family after a post-mortem examination,” said an officer from Kasarvadavali police station.
Ninad Mubarak, a friend, said D’souza was a known face among Thane’s biking enthusiasts. “He had undertaken several rides with his group—including some to Shimla, Delhi, Pune, Jaipur, Mysuru and Bengaluru. We went on numerous rides together.”
He said D’souza is survived by his wife and two children. “He was a generous friend and a doting father to his son and daughter”.
In July last year, 34-year-old Jagruti Hogale, a member of the women-only Bikerni Motorcycle Club, died after her bike hit a pothole, hurtling her into the path of a moving truck on a national highway near Veti village, around 100 km from Mumbai.