Family of up-and-coming state No. 4 Janhavi More allege that the traffic lights at the busy intersection outside her Dombivli housing complex have not been working
Janhavi More
State-level carrom player Janhavi More was killed in a road accident in Dombivli on Sunday, days ahead of her participation in the national-level championship. More was crossing the road at a busy junction near her house, Lodha Heaven, when she was hit by a speeding truck and was declared dead at a nearby hospital minutes later.
Coached by her father since the age of five, the 20-year-old aimed to represent India in carrom. The champion's family has blamed congestion, poor traffic management, and dysfunctional traffic signals for her death.
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Janhavi More, with her success in several state-level events, was preparing for the national championship
Janhavi More had been preparing for a state-level championship along with her friend Ashay Pimputkar, 30, who is also a state-level carrom player. A shocked Pimputkar told the police that he would travel from Neral, near Panvel, to Dombivli every Sunday for practice. "We had done the same this Sunday too. After five hours of practice, we left Janhavi's home around 6 pm. While we were crossing the road near her home, the traffic police gestured a tanker driving from the Kalyan side to stop," narrated Pimputkar.
However, "as soon as the police turned away, the tanker driver jumped the signal and ran over Janhavi. I saw it hit her. For a minute, I could not understand what had happened. Passers-by helped us reach Neon hospital at Padle village," he said.
SPI D K Chaoure of Manpada police station said that tanker number MH43 Y 0454 allegedly could not apply the brakes. "We have arrested him under IPC sections 304 A (death by negligence), 279 (rash driving) and others. The girl was immediately taken to the hospital but doctors declared her dead on arrival. She had suffered serious injuries on her chest as the tyre of the tanker went over her left side and backbone," he explained.
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Father speaks
The girl's grieving father, sitting in a room full of his daughter's trophies, said that he still vividly remembered the first time she went for local competition as Std V student and won the second place. "Then there was no looking back. Unfortunately, I could not do anything to save her. It was our dream to play in an international tournament but it has remained a mere dream now," he said.
A student of Modern College Dombivli, More was not eligible for the Nationals Senior level tournament last year as the list was declared before she turned 20 in December. "She was practicing very hard to be a part of the championship this year. Her hard work and talent have led to 13 medals so far in the national junior championships and 21 at the state level. She was very good in her studies too," he added.
'She had a bright future'
"She was an upcoming talent and a brilliant player. She had a bright future and was set to become the national champion in a couple of years," international carrom umpire JV Sangam told mid-day. "She was ranked fourth in Maharashtra and represented the state in the recently concluded nationals in Sindhudurg," he added.
"Janhvi was very serious about her game. When she was not playing, she would be all smiles and cheerful. She would mostly reach the semi-finals of all events and face former World Champion and India No1 Kajal Kumari or former state champion Ayesha Mohammed. But she used to give them a run for their money. She was improving her game and was about to reach their level," Sangam concluded.
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With inputs by Ronald Chettiar
68
Total no. of medals More had won
36
No. of gold medals More had won
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