By IANS,
Panaji : Trying to save his grandson, a 75-year-old devotee from Karnataka was crushed to death under the large wheels of a chariot during a public procession near the famous Mahalsa temple in Goa, police said Thursday.
The incident took place in Mardol, 30 km from here. Early Thursday morning, police handed over the body to the kin of the deceased, Pundalik Vitthal Neurekar, a resident of Karwar, an adjoining district in Karnataka.
Police said the deceased had arrived in Goa for the religious chariot procession that takes place near Mahalsa temple in February annually.
“According to the family, the deceased, who is originally a Goan, came annually for the ‘rathothsav’ event. On Wednesday night, his grandson suddenly ran in front of the wheels. Neurekar rushed to save him, but was dragged under the chariot’s wheels himself,” police inspector C.L. Patil said Thursday.
Neurekar succumbed to his injuries at the Goa Medical Hospital.