24-year-old national-level basketball player killed as SUV collides with dumper in Uttarakhand, wife critical

A 24-year-old national-level basketball player was killed and his wife was injured after their Scorpio SUV collided head-on with a dumper truck on National Highway 309 near Pirumadara in Uttarakhand’s Ramnagar early Friday, police said.

Locals informed the police that a truck had hit a car in the Pirumadara area, following which a police team was sent to the spot, according to Ramnagar Station House Officer (SHO) Sushil Kumar.

They took possession of the body and sent it for postmortem examination, while the injured woman was taken to a hospital.

The deceased was identified as Yatish Yadav, a resident of Shahpur Bametha in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad. Yatish was a national-level basketball player and worked as a teacher at a private school. His wife, Sheetal Yadav, is a doctor. The couple had married around four months ago, police said.

According to the police, Yatish’s father, Suresh Yadav, said the couple had left for Nainital late on Thursday in their Scorpio SUV and were travelling via the Kashipur-Ramnagar route.

The accident occurred between 1.20 am and 1.45 am on October 2 on National Highway 309 near Pirumadara in Ramnagar, police said.

The deceased’s father alleged that the dumper truck, carrying minor minerals, moved onto the wrong side of the road while its driver was allegedly attempting to overtake another vehicle. The speeding dumper then collided head-on with the Scorpio, causing the SUV to overturn. The impact trapped Yatish and Sheetal underneath the vehicle.

Family members reached the hospital after receiving information about the accident. Yatish’s father alleged that negligence by the dumper driver caused the crash and demanded an impartial investigation and strict action against those responsible, police said.

“A detailed investigation into the accident, including the role of the dumper and its driver, is underway,” police said.