A mother of one, riding pillion on her husband’s motorbike, was flung off Nagerbazar flyover after a Mahindra Scorpio hit the two-wheeler on Monday afternoon. The woman landed on the ground below.
She succumbed to injuries later in hospital while her husband is being treated for multiple injuries.
The vehicle that hit the motorcycle, had a board mentioning “Department of West Bengal.” Police said they were yet to verify the authenticity of the board and trace the owner of the car till Monday evening.
Beauty Biswas, 30, and her husband Asim, 36, residents of Health Institute Road at Subhasnagar in the Dum Dum Cantonment area in northeast Kolkata, were heading towards Lake Town when the four-wheeler coming from the opposite direction collided head-on with the motorbike on the Nagerbazar flyover.
“The couple were coming from Dum Dum and heading for Bhagwati Park on Jessore Road. Investigations suggest that it was the fault of the four-wheeler. The driver has been arrested,” said an officer of Barrackpore commissionerate.
Police identified the accused driver as Arafat Ali who had been sent for medical test to ascertain if he was driving under the influence of any substance.
An officer said the driver was incoherent and was changing his statement repeatedly at the police station.
A case under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code that deals with the offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, has been initiated against him. The charge, if proved, could lead to a maximum punishment of 10 years in jail.
Biswas and his wife were first taken to a private hospital in Nagerbazar where Beauty succumbed to injuries. Her husband was later shifted to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in north Kolkata. Biswas runs a poultry business, the police said.
Similar incidents have been reported at Parama flyover where motorcyclists riding at a high speed either lost control or got hit by other cars resulting in their fall off the flyover. However, cops could not recall any similar incident on Nagerbazar flyover.
“As it is a two-way flyover with no median divider in between, vehicles usually do not cross the speed limit,” said an officer of the Barrackpore traffic department.
Decomposed body found in Garfa
The decomposed body of a 70-year-old man was found in his Garfa home where he lived with his paralysed wife and an unemployed son.
The police suspect that the body of Sangram Dey, a resident of 32A, KP Roy Lane in Garfa, is at least three months old. “We found the body on the bed. The wife said she had no means to inform anyone while the son claimed he did not know that a death has to be reported,” said a police officer.