A catastrophic collision on the Mumbai-Goa National Highway claimed two lives late Saturday night in the Lanja taluka of Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district. A heavy container truck loaded with iron rods violently rammed into an official Bolero belonging to the Hathkhamba Highway Traffic Police unit near the Anjanari bridge. The force of the rear-end impact hurled the police vehicle down a steep, rocky gradient, sending it tumbling between 80 and 100 feet towards the Anjanari riverbed. Assistant Police Sub-Inspector Santosh Appasaheb Gaikwad, aged 51, and the driver of the container truck both succumbed to severe injuries, while two other police personnel sustained critical trauma.
Dispatched to Rescue, Struck from Behind
The traffic police team was actively responding to an emergency distress call regarding another vehicle that had reportedly plunged beneath the Anjanari bridge. While the officers were en route to provide immediate assistance and assess the situation, the heavy cargo container traveling at high momentum closed in from behind and struck their Bolero. The collision proved catastrophic: the police vehicle was propelled down the 80 to 100-foot decline and flipped over, while the unwieldy container truck also veered completely off the tarmac and overturned into the ravine. Three police officers travelling inside the department vehicle suffered profound physical trauma in the wreck.
Emergency Evacuation and Hospital Fatalities
Senior police leadership in Lanja mobilized an immediate response upon receiving news of the crash. Sub-Divisional Police Officer Kadam, Police Inspector Deepali Jadhav, Assistant Police Inspector Satyraj Ghule, and Sub-Inspector Balwant Patil arrived rapidly at the site alongside local rescue personnel to extricate the victims. The injured were initially moved to the Pali Rural Hospital for emergency triage before being transferred to the Ratnagiri District Government Hospital for specialized intervention. Despite extensive medical efforts, Assistant Police Sub-Inspector Santosh Gaikwad died from the severity of his trauma during treatment. The container truck driver also passed away while undergoing medical care.
Critically Injured Officer Moved to Sangli
Among the surviving police personnel, Constable Anil Ashok Shingade sustained life-threatening injuries and is being transferred to a medical facility in Sangli for advanced tertiary care. The tragedy has reignited intense debate surrounding infrastructure safeguards along the Anjanari bridge stretch, which is notorious for sharp roadway curves and precipitous slopes. The incident underscores the urgent need for stringent speed regulation measures, reinforced guardrails, and upgraded road engineering across accident-prone stretches of the Mumbai-Goa National Highway.
