Aurangabad: The residents of Adul and surrounding villages on the Aurangabad-Beed highway, 24km from here, as well as some commuters went on a looting spree after a truck carrying beer overturned, instead of helping the injured driver, his assistant and cleaner.According to Karmad police of Aurangabad rural, the driver lost control over the truck and while taking a turn near Pimpalgaon Pandhri on National Highway 211 around 5am. The truck overturned with the driver, second driver and cleaner getting trapped inside.The truck was heading from Bhopal to Kerala and was carrying top brands of beer worth Rs 35 lakh. The driver, Vishwanathan Bhavan (38), a resident of Erode in Tamil Nadu, was seriously injured. However, the other occupants of the truck — second driver and cleaner — escaped with minor injuries.Soon after the truck overturned, the second driver and cleaner somehow managed to come out of it and tried removing Bhavan, but in vain. Some people, however, removed the driver out of the vehicle and sent him to hospital, about an hour after the accident.Soon after the accident, villagers started rushing to the spot. Instead of helping the injured, they began lifting the beer boxes. By the time police reportedly reached the spot around 9am, the truck had almost been emptied.The second driver told police that their pleas with villagers to help rescue the trapped driver fell on deaf ears as they were allegedly more interested in the beer.The trapped driver, who sustained severe head injuries, was somehow removed from the truck and taken to the Government Medical College and Hospital here and is battling for life.Ankush Wagh, a local villager, told TOI that before police reached the spot, 70-80% of the beer was already taken away by the villagers and other commuters using the highway.Another villager said that some people even loaded the beer boxes in their four-wheelers and fled. Police were recording the statements of the injured and the process of registering a case was under way at the time of going to press.Some people were caught on camera while lifting the beer boxes even in front of police.

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