Thane (Maharashtra), June 12 : In a shocking incident, a police constable and a woman riding pillion on his motorcycle were crushed to death by a speeding dumper in Maharashtra's Thane city on Tuesday, a police official said.

The incident happened around 12.20 p.m. in the busy Vartak Nagar area of Thane when the duo was travelling on the two-wheeler to a government department for some official work.

Just then, the speeding dumper zoomed and knocked down the motorcycle, with the policeman and the woman flung on the road and sustaining serious injuries.

Social worker, Binu Varghese, who was in the vicinity rushed there to see the blood-splattered bodies of the victims as they were rushed to a nearby hospital where they died during treatment. The deceased were identified as policeman Sunil Rawate, 44 residing in Thane and Nisha Dhaypurkar, 47, of Kalwa town, who was employed in a nearby shop.

After Varghese complained to the local authorities, the police swung into action and within hours, tracked the dumper involved in the hit-and-run accident.

An official of Vartak Nagar Police Station said that the dumper driver, the prime suspect in the case, has been detained and was being questioned before being formally arrested.

/IANS