Chennai hit-and-run: Journalist riding bike taxi killed by BMW car, body thrown 100 feet away

CHENNAI: A 39-year-old bike taxi rider and a former video journalist died after a speeding BMW car hit his two-wheeler from behind on the Tambaram-Maduravoyal bypass road late on Tuesday. Police said he was thrown 100 feet off the road in the impact, landing him in the bushes.

The deceased, identified as A Pratheep Kumar, was working as a bike taxi rider and was heading toward Ambattur, where he lived with his wife and five-year-old daughter, when the accident happened, police said.

The rashly driven BMW hit the bike from behind around midnight, according to the police. In the impact, the bike rammed into the metal barriers along the bypass road, and he got thrown off into the bushes.

Police sources said the driver of the car continued for over a kilometre after the collision before its automatic sensor forced it to a halt and the driver abandoned the vehicle and fled. Police have identified the driver as Murugan.

A passerby who noticed the mangled bike on the road alerted the police and an ambulance. Personnel from Koyambedu TIW (Traffic Investigation Wing) reached the scene and recovered Pratheep's body and moved it to a government hospital for post mortem.

Police have since registered a case of causing death by negligence, rash and negligent driving, and overspeeding, and have launched a search for Murugan.

An initial probe has revealed that Pratheep was working with a Telugu news channel, but took to riding a bike taxi after his employer shut down operations. He had started a YouTube channel which did not do well and he took to bike taxis to support his family, police said.

He is survived by his wife Manju and their five-year-old daughter Vahini. His wife was unaware he was working as a bike taxi rider, according to his friends.

The BMW is registered to a private company based in Velappanchavadi. Police are checking CCTV footage from nearby areas to trace the driver's escape route.