Officials and mediapersons gather near the wreckage of a tipper lorry after it collided head-on with a Telangana RTC bus near Chevella, in Ranga Reddy district on Monday.
| Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL
A day after the collision between a Telangana State Road Transport Corporation bus and a gravel-laden tipper lorry that left 19 people dead in Chevella, police have begun probing the permits, load capacity and operational condition of the lorry involved.
“We are verifying the vehicle’s documents, the trail of transactions and the weight of the gravel loaded at Lakdaram in Patancheru, before it began its journey towards Manneguda via Shankarpally,” an officer involved in the investigation told The Hindu. “The possibility of overload cannot be ruled out.”
Preliminary findings suggest that the Ashok Leyland 10-wheeler tipper was carrying between 60 and 70 tonnes of gravel, double its maximum capacity. Investigators suspect the excessive weight may have played a crucial role in the severity of the crash, which was reported on the narrow stretch of the Hyderabad–Tandur highway near Mirjaguda on Monday morning.
Telangana Director General of Police B. Shivadhar Reddy, who visited the crash site on Tuesday, said that initial inquiries pointed to an error by the tipper driver. “He tried to avoid a small pothole, swerved slightly to the right and collided with the bus. Otherwise, we do not see any issue with the road — the curve is not sharp, there are no trees blocking visibility and no other obstructions,” he said.
The police are also examining the mechanical condition of the tipper lorry, including its engine and braking system, to determine whether any malfunction contributed to the crash. Tissue samples from both drivers have been sent to the Telangana Forensic Science Laboratory on Tuesday. “Samples have been sent to verify if any of the drivers were in an inebriated condition. That will be an important aspect of the investigation,” said Cyberabad Police Commissioner Avinash Mohanty.
Interestingly, in a statement to the police, the lorry owner, Lachiram Naik, who survived the crash with severe injuries, claimed that he had handed over the vehicle to driver Akash Danya Kamle near Shankarpally. He added that Kamle had been driving continuously for long hours without adequate rest. Less than two hours after the journey began, the tipper rammed into the RTC bus.
Of the 72 passengers on board the bus, 38 were treated for injuries, while several others who escaped with minor or no wounds fled the site in shock. The Chevella police have urged these passengers to come forward and record their statements to aid the investigation.
Monday’s collision, among the deadliest in recent months, occurred when the gravel-laden lorry heading from Shankarpally via Tandur collided head-on with the RTC bus traveling in the opposite direction. The impact crushed the front portion of the bus, causing the lorry’s load to spill over and trap passengers inside.
Published – November 04, 2025 09:35 pm IST
