A retired Pro Vice-Chancellor of Shivaji University Dr Vasant M Chavan was among the three persons killed in a major accident involving multiple vehicles that took place at a prominent traffic junction at Kolhapur in western Maharashtra on Monday.

Dr Chavan (72) was reportedly behind the wheels of a car when his vehicle rammed into at least two motorcycles at Kolhapur’s Cyber Chowk at 2.30 pm on Monday.

The police said that Dr Chavan, who was unwell, might have lost control when he crashed  into the two motorcycles at the busy junction.

The CCTV footage of the accident showed the other two victims being flung several meters away after motorbikes were rammed into by the speeding car driven by Dr Chavan.

The car-motorcycle collision was so severe that Dr Chavan was killed in his vehicle as it sped and crashed into another stationary vehicle.  He died on the spot, just two days after his 72nd birthday that took place on Saturday last.

At least four others were injured, while several vehicles were damaged. A couple of traffic barricades were knocked down, while a traffic signal was partly damaged in the accident.

The police are investigating exactly how the incident took place.  The injured persons are undergoing treatment at nearby C.T and C.P.R. Hospitals where their condition was described as “serious”.

The Cyber Chowk is one of the prominent junctions in Kolhapur. The Shivaji University Kolhapur and the Rajaram College are located in its vicinity. There are several other schools and other private educational institutions in the vicinity.

Apart from being the former Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Shivaji University Kolhapur, Dr. Chavan had been associated with the IIM-Ahmedabad. He was  also a former college principal, an ex-Director of Bharatiya Vidyapeeth’s institutions in Kolhapur and New Delhi. He had guided nearly two M.Phil and PhD scholars and held other important positions.