PONDA
A 58-year-old motorcycle pilot Prakash Chodankar (58), a native of Satarda-Maharashtra but residing at Kavlem-Ponda was crushed under a crane working near the underpass at Kadamba bus stand in Ponda on Tuesday morning.
It was a double tragedy for the family as Chodankar’s mother-in-law had died about 15 days ago.
According to sources, Chodankar had been a motorcycle pilot at the bus stand for several years.
Following the demise of his mother-in-law about 15 days ago, he had not gone to the KTC bus stand in Ponda for the last 15 days and returned to the Ponda bus stand only on Tuesday morning.
A crane had gone to the Ponda bus stand on Tuesday morning to undertake work on the underpass. During work, the crane driver struck a passenger bus and the crane driver lost the control, knocking down Chodankar who was waiting for passengers. He was crushed to death.
A Ponda police team rushed to the site and arrested the crane driver, Rajeev Rajendra Kumar, (20) from Bihar, while also sending the body for an autopsy at the South Goa District Hospital.
The body was later handed over to relatives and the final rites were performed at the Varkhande crematorium on Tuesday evening.
Sources said Chodankar was residing in a rented house at Kavlem and prior to that, he was residing at Talaulim, Nagueshi and Ramnathi in Ponda taluka.
