Air bag failure in police vehicle killed IPS probationer, investigation reveals

Hassan: Two days after a 26-year-old probationary IPS officer died in a road accident, the investigation so far has revealed that the airbags of the police vehicle in which he was travelling did not open, a senior police officer said on Tuesday.

According to him, the vehicle, a 2020-model jeep involved in the accident had two airbags for both the front seats but when the vehicle allegedly toppled during the accident, the airbags failed to open. However, both the driver and the officer were wearing seat belts, he said.

“The speed at which the vehicle was being driven is being ascertained and we are ascertaining as to why the jeep drifted towards the left side of the road during the accident. We are also ascertaining if it was a tyre burst that led to the accident,” the officer said.

According to police, Harsh Bardhan, (26), was a 2023-batch IPS officer of the Karnataka cadre and hailed from Madhya Pradesh.

The accident took place on Sunday evening, when the tyre of the police vehicle he was travelling in allegedly burst near Kittane in Hassan taluk, following which the driver lost control and the vehicle hit a house and a tree on the roadside, police said.

According to police, Bardhan was on his way to Hassan to report on duty as a probationary Assistant Superintendent of Police in Holenarasipur, police said.

Bardhan sustained severe head injuries and died in the hospital during the course of treatment, while the driver, Manjegowda, suffered minor injuries, a senior police officer said.

The IPS officer had recently completed his four-week training at the Karnataka Police Academy in Mysuru, police said, adding his father, is a sub-divisional magistrate.