Mangaluru: Seven people, including two young doctors, were injured after a car driven by a doctor rammed into an autorickshaw in Kukkudakatte near Yenepoya hospital on Saturday night. Rash and negligent driving is said to be the reason for the accident.

Police said the incident took place around 11.45pm. An autorickshaw driven by Divakar, 35, a resident of Asaigoli with four passengers in it, which included George, Rajendra, Prakash and Akhilraj, was moving towards Asaigoli.

When the autorickshaw reached near Kukkudakatte, a car driven rashly by accused Sameer Mehra and co-passenger Sowmya, overtook a vehicle rashly, and met with a head-on collision with the autorickshaw driven by Divakar, which was coming from the opposite direction. Police said that due to the impact, the front portion of the autorickshaw was completely mangled.

Locals who rushed to the spot, managed to remove the autorickshaw driver, who had got stuck in the mangled vehicle. The injured have been rushed to a nearby private hospital for treatment.

Police suspect that it is a case of drunk driving. The case is being investigated. The locals, who accused the car driver of being intoxicated, thrashed him after the accident. A case has been registered in the Ullal police station.