A shocking incident occurred on the Modasa–Lunawada highway on Tuesday night when a drunk teacher drove with a man on the hood of his car for nearly 750 metres, with the victim’s motorcycle jammed into the vehicle’s front bumper.
What makes the episode even more disturbing is that it was perpetrated by a teacher, and that too in Gujarat, a dry state.
Although Gujarat enforces prohibition, the reality on its roads tells another story.
According to recent figures from the state transport department, Ahmedabad registered 2,081 incidents of driving under the influence in 2024. However, officials claimed the real count was likely far higher.
In the first two months of this year alone, authorities caught 580 motorists for drunk driving in Ahmedabad. That is an average of nine arrests a day, compared to five daily the previous year.
Vadodara has also witnessed a notable spike, with 31 offenders apprehended in a single night during Holi.
Back to the Modasa–Lunawada highway accident, the victims, Sunil Machhar and his father-in-law, Dinesh Charel, were returning home to Lakhanpur village in Dahod’s Fatepura taluka after finishing work at a site in Nikoda village near Himmatnagar.
Machhar was riding the motorcycle when, near Babaliya village, a speeding car rammed them from behind.
The impact threw Machhar onto the roadside, while Charel landed on the car’s hood. The motorcycle became stuck in the car’s front bumper, but the driver continued driving instead of stopping.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Kamlesh Vasava told the media that the car continued for about 750 metres before being stopped. A family travelling in another car witnessed the scene — the bike scraping along the road and Charel clinging to the bonnet — and recorded a video. They managed to block the car’s path and forced the driver to stop.
Locals and passersby quickly gathered, and both injured men were taken to a nearby hospital. Police detained the two occupants of the car and seized a bottle of liquor from the vehicle.
The driver was identified as Manish Patel, a teacher at Jarod Government Primary School and a resident of Kakachiya village in Lunawada taluka of Mahisagar district.
Vasava said that Patel and his brother had reportedly travelled to Rajasthan to hire labourers. Authorities have written to the transport department requesting the cancellation of Patel’s driving licence and have also urged the education department to take disciplinary action.
Eyewitness Aakash Nathani, who was travelling with his family from Sanvariya Seth temple in Rajasthan to Godhra, told the media they realised something was wrong when the motorcyclists who had been ahead of them suddenly disappeared.
“We saw one man lying on the roadside while the other was being carried on the car’s bonnet, the bike still jammed in front,” he said. Nathani added that when he confronted the driver, “he seemed completely unaware of what he had done and even asked what the issue was.”
Police at Bakor station in Mahisagar district have registered a case against Manish Patel for reckless and negligent driving endangering life, causing grievous injury by negligence, attempted culpable homicide, abetment, and property damage under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with several provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act.
Also Read: Three Days Sees 1900 Road Accidents in Gujarat https://www.vibesofindia.com/road-accidents-gujarat/
