Patna, April 18: Three brothers were mowed down in the small hours of Monday by a speeding tractor in the Shahpur area, some 21km from the capital.

The incident took place around 5.30am, the police said. The father of the boys, Mohan Prasad Chaurasia is the owner of a roadside hotel.

While the eldest son, 18-year-old Ritesh Kumar and his younger brother Mukesh, aged 14, died on the spot, 15-year-old Mahadao was rushed to Patna Medical College and Hospital. His condition is stated to be serious.

The residents of the area blocked the Shahpur-Danapur Road for two hours demanding immediate arrest of the driver of the tractor and compensation for the family of the deceased.

“The family had a small hotel by the roadside. With the hotel being small, the three brothers used to sleep outside the hotel by the side of the same road. Today, at around 5.30am, a tractor coming towards Shahpur from Danapur mowed them down. The driver of the vehicle fled with the vehicle. Some people, who witnessed the accident from a distance said the tractor was speeding and did not take notice of the sleeping youths,” a police officer of the Shahpur police station said.

The residents of the area said such incidents are very frequent.

“Almost everyday there is a mishap here. There is a speed limit of 20km per hour for all vehicles passing through the 2km-stretch of the Danapur cantonment. With the vehicles moving very slowly during that time, they all want to hurry accelerate once they have crossed the cantonment area. And this results in road mishaps. With the vehicles moving together once the cantonment is crossed, it leads to a traffic jam. The vehicles, in a bid to avoid the same, want to move first and it results in a tragedy,” said a local resident.

The people also complained about the lack of traffic police personnel in the area.

“They are nowhere to be seen most of the times. And this is a major reason for the ruckus. There has to be proper police presence in the area. They should be manning traffic and control speeding. Otherwise the problems would continue,” the resident added.

The police said that the matter was under investigation.

“The family of the victims will get the compensation. There are traffic police stationed on the spot and regular police patrolling is done. This is an unfortunate incident and the driver of the tractor is being searched. He will be arrested soon,” the officer said.