A “speeding car” crashed through a guardrail along Maniktala Main Road, knocked down a man and a nine-year-old girl, and dragged a seven-year-old boy around 10ft before hitting a tree on Friday afternoon.
The boy suffered critical injuries, while the man and the girl were in a stable condition.
The kids were playing on a footpath around 4pm when the accident occurred, police said. The man, identified as Tapan Ghosh, was standing near them.
Immediately after the accident, residents blocked Maniktala Main Road. A police team, led by an officer of the rank of deputy commissioner, rushed to the spot.
Some youths attacked the car — a Maruti Suzuki Swift — and damaged the windshield. They threw LPG cylinders and stones at the car, the police said.
As trouble escalated, additional forces from neighbouring police stations had to be sent to control the situation.
For the next three hours, traffic had to be diverted as vehicles could not ply on the stretch of Maniktala Main Road between the Kankurgachi and Bengal Chemical.
The area was cordoned off to ensure there was no further deterioration of the law and order situation.
“We have detained the driver of the car for questioning. There was no one else inside the vehicle. The car will undergo a mechanical test on Saturday to determine whether there was any technical glitch,” said a senior officer at Phoolbagan police station.
Several bystanders said the road was almost deserted when the accident occurred. The car was moving at a high speed when it suddenly swerved.
“The kids were playing near our club, Maniktala Bayam Samity. It was around 4pm. A blue Maruti Suzuki Swift (WB 08A2490) driving at a high speed hit the iron railing of a footpath along Maniktala Main Road. The teenage boy was dragged around 10ft and two others were knocked down,” said Tapan Khatua, who runs a food stall near the accident site.
“It seemed the car would plough through hutments along the footpath. It came to a halt after hitting a tree and turning sideways.”
Within minutes of the car coming to a halt, some bystanders rushed to the rescue of the injured and informed the police.
The three were taken to Apollo Multispeciality Hospital, on EM Bypass, where the children were admitted.
An official at the hospital said the boy suffered multiple injuries and was in a critical condition. “Ghosh was treated at the Emergency ward of the hospital. The girl’s condition was stable,” said the official.
Residents alleged the stretch of Maniktala Main Road between Kankurgachi and EM Bypass is accident-prone because of scant police presence. Vehicles tend to speed through the stretch for most of the day, they said.
Senior police officers assured the protesting residents that an additional speed-breaker would be built on the stretch, which has two speed-breakers.
“We will install a CCTV camera near the spot and will assess whether any additional measures are needed to ensure road safety,” the officer said.