Jaipur, April 8 -- A drunk SUV driver speeding down a narrow city road allegedly hit multiple pedestrians and vehicles, killing three people and leaving six others seriously injured, police said on Tuesday.

The tragedy took on political overtones with the Congress expelling the driver, its district leader, and the BJP saying the Opposition party was full of people with criminal tendencies.

As the car moved from the MI Road to the narrow lanes in the Nahargarh area, it mowed down people and vehicles on its way. The driver, identified as 62-year-old Usman Khan, is a factory owner and the Congress' Jaipur district vice president.

Following the incident, locals gathered at Nahargarh police station and blocked roads to protest and demand financial compensation, a government job and other relief to the victims and their kin.

According to police, Khan first hit a scooter near the Santosh Mata Temple and continued to drive recklessly, crushing those who had fallen on the road and ramming into more people and vehicles along the way.

The SUV even collided with vehicles parked outside the Nahargarh Police Station. Police and locals managed to stop the vehicle when it got stuck in a narrow lane. The driver was detained on the spot.

Additional DCP (North) Bajrang Singh Shekhawat said Khan, a resident of Rana Colony in Shastri Nagar, was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident.

"He lost control of the SUV and hit most of the victims in an area of about 500 metres near the Nahargarh Police Station," Shekhawat said.

Those injured in the accident were identified as Virendra Singh, 48, Mamta Kanwar, 50, Monesh Soni, 28, Mohammad Jalaluddin, 44, Deepika Saini, 17, Vijay Narayan, 65, Jebunnisha, 50, Anshika, 24, and Awadhesh Pareek, 37.

All were rushed to Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital, where doctors declared Kanwar and Pareek dead. Singh died on Tuesday morning. Hospital authorities said the condition of the injured remains critical, and they have been admitted to the trauma ward of the SMS Hospital.

Police said Khan owns a factory manufacturing iron beds in the Vishwakarma Industrial Area. A medical examination confirmed that he was heavily intoxicated at the time of the incident.

An FIR has been registered against the accused based on a complaint filed by Kanwar's father.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.