Kasaragod:  A minor road accident took a devastating turn when an auto driver ferrying school students consumed acid and took his life soon after his vehicle was rear-ended by a car driven by a college teacher.

The deceased is K Aneesh (40) of Pallanchi in the Delampady grama panchayat.

Residents and the panchayat vice-president said he may have taken the extreme step out of concern for the safety of the three students in his autorickshaw. But all three students escaped with minor injuries.

The accident happened on the Kasaragod-Thiruvananthapuram Hill Highway (SH-59). Aneesh was driving a Mahindra Jeeto Minivan.  Around 4 pm, he picked Sreehari, Atul, and Adarsh, all class XI students, from the Government Higher Secondary School at Bethurpara in Kuttikol panchayat, and was on the way to Pallanchi, 10km away. Around 500m from the school, his autorickshaw was rammed from behind by a Tata Nexon driven by Bennet Thomas, an assistant professor of Baja Arts and Science College. "Aneesh applied sudden brakes, and my car hit his auto," Thomas told Onmanorama from a hospital near Kanhangad.

The front of the Nexon was crushed, and the airbag was deployed. "I suffered a hairline fracture on my wrist," he said. The auto's rear also caved in a bit. The children, too, had minor injuries. Parents and teachers rushed to the spot, and they were taken to E K Nayanar Cooperative Hospital in Chengala. "I even spoke to Aneesh, and he seemed fine," Bennet said.

But minutes later, Aneesh left the autorickshaw at the scene, carried a jerry can of acid kept inside, and ran into a nearby plot. Bedakam Police said he consumed the acid there, within 20 minutes of the collision. "He is a rubber grower too, and the acid might have been meant for his plantation," said an officer.

Aneesh was first taken to a private hospital in Kasaragod and later shifted to another hospital in Mangaluru, where he died at 12.30 am on Wednesday.

Police said the autorickshaw was not in Aneesh’s name, its fitness certificate had expired in March 2025, though the permit was valid till July 2028.

Delampady Panchayat vice-president Abdulla Kunhi said Aneesh may have panicked seeing the students faint after the crash. "We see no other reason," he said.

Bennet said he did not know why Aneesh applied the sudden brakes. "But, unfortunately, he chose to end his life," Bennet said.

Aneesh is survived by his wife Veena, two sons and mother C Kamalakshi. His father, K Shekharan Nair, predeceased him.