A 20-year-old student who was heading to college in an autorickshaw died in a crash as the vehicle keeled over while taking a sharp
turn in Sinthi on Wednesday morning.
Police said Sayan Bhattacharya, who was a resident of Bhatpara in North 24-Parganas, was travelling in the auto with a friend when it turned over in the narrow Hem Dey Lane around 11.30 am.
“The autorickshaw turned over, Bhattacharya fell and the vehicle fell on him. He was critically injured and taken to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital where he was declared dead,” police said.
His friend Ayan Mandal, 20, was treated and discharged from a private hospital.
Bhattacharya, his parents’ only son, was a student of Birla Institute of Technology.
The crash was reported barely a kilometre from his college.
The driver was arrested and the vehicle impounded. The auto was plying along the route that connects Sinthi More and Dum Dum.
“The driver has been charged with sections of causing death due to negligence and rash and negligent driving,” an officer.
An officer of the traffic department said according to witnesses, the autorickshaw was moving at a high speed and could not negotiate a sharp turn in a relatively narrow lane.
The police said Bhattacharya’s father, who stays in Jamshedpur, was informed about the accident.
Auto overturned
A passenger died in a similar autorickshaw crash in Uttar Kashipur, Bhangar, on Wednesday morning. Nazmul Molla, 75, a resident of Bhangar, was in the vehicle when the driver lost control and the auto overturned. He was declared dead at a hospital. The driver fled.