A car with a woman at the wheel knocked down six persons, one of whom succumbed to his injuries, at Roladih village under Tamar police station on NH- 33, around 70km from the district headquarters, on Saturday morning.

The deceased has been identified as Budhu Lohra, a resident of Gomiadih village under Kuchai police station of Saraikela-Kharsawan district.

The five injured are Mangal Mahli, Bula Mahli, Silas Mahli, Pradeep Mahli and Shyam Mahli.

Mangal, Bula and Silas are natives of Gomiadih village while Pradeep and Shyam are residents of Roladih and Sonahatu, respectively.

All of them, aged between 25 and 30 years, are relatives and had come to Roladih to take part in a wedding.

They were standing by the side of the road to catch a bus when they were hit by the car.

Following the accident, the woman abandoned the car and fled the spot. The victims were rushed to a local government hospital, which referred them to RIMS where five of them are still under treatment. Budhu died on his way to RIMS.

Police have seized the car that bears the registration number JH01BV 2993. An FIR has been lodged against an unidentified person at Tamar police station for rash driving.

Police said the car was registered in the name of Nirmala Devi who they suspected was driving the vehicle when the accident took place.

“The car was on its way to Jamshedpur from Ranchi. The woman suddenly applied the brakes to follow a head-on collision with another vehicle. The sudden application of brakes caused the car to skid and hit the six persons standing by the side of the road,” an official of Tamar police station said.

He said cops later found out that the accused had also hit a goat around 5km before the accident spot. “The woman was speeding as she feared that the villagers might chase her and demand compensation,” the official added.

Car thieves in cop net

Six members of an interstate gang, who have stole around one-and-a-half-dozen four-wheelers in the capital in the last one year, were arrested by from Ranchi and Hazaribagh on Saturday.

The accused were identified as mastermind Sonu Sao alias Sunil (28), Arun Ram and Ramashish Kumar Dangi from Chatra, Sukhdeo Dangi and Prakash Sao from Hazaribagh and Vinay Kumar Yadav from Gaya district in Bihar. All of them are between 22 and 32 years old.

“We had formed a special investigation team to investigate the theft of four-wheelers. The accused have confessed to stealing four-wheelers, including hatchbacks and SUVs, from Ranchi district. We have recovered two stolen vehicles,” SSP Anish Gupta told the media on Sunday.

On Saturday, Ranchi police got a tip-off that Sonu along with two of his associates was on way to Ranchi in a stolen SUV.

Patrolling was intensified on Parchutu Ring Road under BIT Mesra police outpost and the SUV was intercepted. Sonu and Arun were arrested while Chatur managed to flee.

Quizzed by police, Sonu revealed that four of his associates were waiting for him at a motel at Gurudaspur under Chauparan thana in Hazaribagh with another stolen SUV.

A police team rushed to Chauparan and arrested four others.