A young man driving a Maruti Suzuki Swift down Salt Lake Bypass towards Chingrighata allegedly hit a cycle, a motorcycle and two other vehicles, leaving at least eight persons injured, on Thursday afternoon.
One of the vehicles hit was a Tata Sumo, which was ferrying passengers who were on their way to attend a wedding reception and included members of the bride’s family.
Police said the speeding car finally hit a guardrail near the Chingrighata intersection on EM Bypass and was flung a few metres before coming to a halt.
Three of the injured have been admitted to the trauma care centre at SSKM Hospital. The rest were treated at various hospitals and discharged.
Later in the day, chief minister Mamata Banerjee visited the three admitted at SSKM Hospital. “The three who have been admitted at the trauma care centre are well taken care of,” Mamata said.
Sumudro Biswas, a 28-year-old Jadavpur resident who was driving the Swift, has been arrested and charged under Section 279 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with rash and negligent driving.
The Chingrighata crossing on the Bypass near which the Maruti Suzuki Swift rammed into a guardrail and came to a halt after a series of accidents on Thursday afternoon; (right) a crowd gathered in the area Gautam Bose
Officers of the Bidhannagar police commissionerate said Biswas first jumped a traffic signal near Nicco Park and then hit a civic volunteer who tried to stop the car. The youth allegedly kept speeding and hit a Tata Sumo that was carrying passengers who were on their way to a wedding reception.
The Sumo fell sideways under the impact of the collision, leaving some passengers injured. They were taken to Ruby General Hospital. Subroto Pachar, one of those travelling in the Tata Sumo, received six stitches.
The bride’s brother, Tinku Sardar, told The Telegraph the car rammed into the Sumo in the middle.
While trying to reconstruct the serial hits along the busy Salt Lake Bypass, the police apparently have learnt that after Biswas hit a civic volunteer, another civic volunteer on traffic duty alerted his seniors.
But before any traffic sergeant could stop the car, the driver went on to hit the Sumo, a woman pedestrian, a cyclist and a motorcyclist.
Alarmed at the reckless driving, some pedestrians and onlookers kept running after the car, screaming, eyewitnesses told the police.
With traffic sergeants trying to stop Biswas, he veered towards a service road near the Navajyoti area from the Salt Lake Bypass and hit another vehicle before coming to a halt after colliding with a guardrail.
“Every time someone tried to stop the car, the driver became more reckless and kept speeding,” said a senior police officer.
Immediately after the accident, senior officers from Kolkata police and the Bidhannagar commissionerate reached the spot. The driver, who, too, was injured, was taken to Pragati Maidan police station near the Parama flyover. The car was towed to Bidhannagar South police station.