A 35-year-old woman died when a ‘speeding’ vehicle hit the e-rickshaw she was riding with her nine-year-old daughter to drop her to school in Sapuipara in Howrah’s Bally on Friday morning.
Police said the e-rickshaw was being driven by the husband of Supriya Saha, the victim. The accident happened around 6.30am on Sapuipara Road.
Residents of the locality rushed Supriya, husband Suman and their daughter, a Class III student, to a hospital nearby.
Supriya died of her injuries. Suman and the child were discharged after treatment.
As news of Supriya’s death reached the locality, residents put up a road blockade. They demanded police deployment on Sapuipara Road, which is a key thoroughfare connecting National Highway-2 and National Highway-16, cutting through a densely populated area.
A strong contingent of police from the local Nischinda police station and from the Howrah police commissionerate reached the spot and persuaded the protesters to remove the blockade after patiently listening to their grievances.
“This road is a death trap, particularly early in the morning and late at night, when vehicles move at a break-neck speed,” said a resident.
“There are a few schools and a college in the area and it is getting increasingly risky to travel through Sapuipara Road because of erratic traffic. We have informed the police about a recent trend of drink driving by some youths on the road at night. But there has been no redressal.”
The police said footage of a CCTV camera installed around 100 metres from the accident site showed a Mahindra Thar moving down just minutes before the accident. “We have noted down the number of the vehicle and the owner is being contacted,” said a senior officer.
A message has been sent to all police stations mentioning details of the car.
Eyewitnesses told officers that a speeding car hit the left rear of the e-rickshaw. The mother and the daughter were flung away under the impact. The driver lunged ahead and fell on the steering wheel and then on the road.
The police said they were awaiting the post-mortem report of Supriya. A case of murder caused by rash and negligent driving has been drawn up at Nischinda police station.