Chandigarh, August 8: Three Kanwariyas were killed, and another was seriously injured after a speeding vehicle allegedly hit them on Sirhind GT Road near Dada Motors in Punjab’s Fatehgarh Sahib district in the early hours of Sunday.

According to sources, the accident occurred around 2:15 am when a group of six Kanwariyas from Kotkapura were returning home after collecting holy water from Gangotri in Uttarakhand. The devotees were walking along the national highway when the speeding vehicle reportedly struck four of them from behind.

Three Kanwariyas died on the spot, while another, identified as Mukesh Kumar, sustained serious injuries. All four were rushed to the Civil Hospital in Fatehgarh Sahib, where doctors declared three of them dead.

The deceased were identified as Mahinder Pal alias Gagan (43) of Parshuram Nagar in Kotkapura, Deepak Kumar (42) of Kotkapura, and Jagdish Mittal alias Kalu (40) of Dr Harpal Street in Kotkapura, Faridkot district.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Tilak Raj of Sirhind police station, who is investigating the case, said the probe was underway.

Police have registered a case and recovered the registration plate of the vehicle. Efforts are underway to trace the vehicle and identify its driver, who fled the spot after the accident.

Meanwhile, several people, including fellow Kanwariyas, staged a sit-in protest at the accident site, demanding the immediate arrest of the driver.