PUNE:3 women warkaris killed, 7 injured in palkhi truck hitThree women warkaris were killed and seven others injured after a truck accompanying the Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Palkhi procession rammed into a group of devotees on the Saswad-Jejuri road in Pune district on Monday morning, police said.The accident occurred at 8:30 am near Hotel Shipdeep Lodging, about 500 metres ahead of the Belsar toll plaza towards Jejuri and nearly 12 km ahead of the main Palkhi procession, which was at Borawake Mala at the time.The deceased were identified as Nanda Pawar (52) of Kavalapur, Madhavi Rajaram Salgare (55) of Malgaon and Rajshree Shankar Bhosale (55) of Kasabe Digraj. All three places are in Miraj taluka of Sangli district.The injured were identified as Nivrutti Umaji Jagtap, Mangal Vilas Patil, Shailaja Dinkar Jagtap, Narayan Mahadu Padwal, Kasabai Shankar Gaste of Ashta, Akkatai Baban Koli of Shirgaon and Geetabai Sadashiv Hankare of Kasabe Digraj, all from Sangli district.Pune Rural Superintendent of Police Sandeep Singh Gill said preliminary investigations revealed that the truck driver, Eknath Dhug, had been unwell and had consumed medication for fever and cold a day earlier.“During questioning, the driver stated that he felt drowsy and lost control of the vehicle. While attempting to overtake another vehicle in the convoy heading towards Jejuri, he allegedly veered to the left and hit the group of devotees,” Gill said.Pune Rural Police said the carriageway was divided by a central median. The right lane was reserved exclusively for authorised palkhi vehicles and the left lane was earmarked for warkaris to ensure their safe movement.Police added that the truck belonged to the dindi of Ranganath Maharaj Pokharbisikar from Loha in Nanded district and was among the authorised vehicles accompanying the procession. It struck a group of women devotees from a dindi belonging to Kasabe Digraj in Sangli district.The injured were rushed to hospitals in Jejuri for treatment.Dr Pratap Salve of Jejuri Rural Hospital said, “Around 9 am, six patients were brought to the hospital. Three were declared dead on arrival. The remaining three were stable but had fractures and were referred to a private hospital for further treatment. Five other injured devotees were taken directly to a private hospital.”Police said a detailed investigation has been launched to ascertain the exact cause of the accident. The probe will examine the driver’s medical condition, the circumstances surrounding the overtaking attempt and any other contributing factors. Appropriate legal action will be taken based on the findings.Deputy chief minister and Pune district guardian minister Sunetra Ajit Pawar visited the injured at Jejuri Rural Hospital and directed officials to ensure they received the best possible treatment.Announcing financial assistance, Pawar said the families of each of the three deceased devotees would receive an ex gratia payment of ₹5 lakh. The state government will also bear the entire cost of treatment for the injured and provide additional financial assistance, if required, Pawar said.She also instructed the district collector, superintendent of police, chief executive officer of the Zilla Parishad and other officials to closely monitor relief and rehabilitation efforts. Stressing that the safety of lakhs of warkaris was a collective responsibility, she appealed to motorists to exercise utmost caution while travelling along the wari route.The accident cast a pall of gloom over the annual Ashadhi Wari, one of Maharashtra’s largest religious pilgrimages, during which lakhs of devotees accompany the palkhis of Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj and Sant Tukaram Maharaj on foot to Pandharpur.