A 45-year-old farmer was killed after an unidentified vehicle rammed his tractor-trailer on the Amritsar–Bathinda National Highway near Kotkapura early on Tuesday. The deceased has been identified as Basant Singh, a resident of Sandhwan village.
The impact of the collision overturned the tractor-trailer, leaving Basant Singh dead at the scene. His body was found lying on the roadside, surrounded by crates of tomatoes that had spilled across the road.
On receiving information about the accident, police reached the spot and launched an investigation. The body was taken into custody and shifted to the mortuary at the Civil Hospital for post-mortem examination.
According to the police, Basant Singh was on his way to the Kotkapura vegetable market at around 3.15 am with a tractor-trailer loaded with tomatoes from his fields. As he entered the Amritsar–Bathinda National Highway from a village link road, an unidentified vehicle approaching from behind allegedly hit the trailer with great force, causing it to overturn.
Basant Singh sustained severe head injuries in the collision and died on the spot, the police said.
Jasvinder Singh, former sarpanch of Sandhwan village, said residents rushed to the accident site as soon as news of the incident spread, while the police also arrived promptly and began the investigation.
Residents of Sandhwan village, the native village of Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, have demanded that the police identify and trace the driver of the unidentified vehicle at the earliest and initiate strict legal action against the person responsible for the accident.
