A 23-year-old engineering graduate driving a Volkswagen Polo hit a cyclist while trying to avert collision with a guardrail on Prince Anwar Shah Road and then knocked down a pedestrian before ramming into a lamp post on Sunday night, police said.

The cyclist, who was barely a few feet from his home, died. The pedestrian, who was standing by the roadside with his wife, had to be hospitalised with multiple wounds.

The youth at the wheel, Subham Banerjee, has been charged under various IPC sections, including one related to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, after he was found driving in an inebriated state, police said.

The section means the driver had full knowledge about the consequence of his action — that of allegedly driving drunk — and may lead to a maximum punishment of 10 years in jail.

The police said Banerjee, who has graduated from a private university in New Town, was with one of his friends when the incident happened around 10.15pm on Monday.

“According to CCTV footage and witness accounts, the car was coming from the direction of Jadavpur and heading towards EM Bypass. The person at the wheel pressed the brake at the last moment to avert a collision with a guardrail on the Prince Anwar Shah Road connector and the vehicle veered off towards the left and hit multiple people before hitting a lamp post,” said an officer of Garfa police station.

Ratan Sarkar, who died in the accident Telegraph picture

The cyclist who was fatally injured was Ratan Sarkar, 48, a resident of Arya Vidyalaya Road, off Prince Anwar Shah Road. The injured pedestrian was Nilotpaul Biswas, 45, a resident of Bivas Guha Colony in Nayabad.

The findings of a preliminary inquiry by the cops suggest that Banerjee, a resident of Sree Colony in Regent Park, had gone out with his friends and was on his way to drop a friend home when the accident happened.

“It appears to be a case of speeding. Guardrails are essentially used as speed breakers at night. But in this case, the vehicle did not slow down in time and the driver pressed the brake at the last moment,” said an officer of the fatal squad of the traffic police.

Banerjee was taken to Garfa police station, from where he was taken to a government hospital. The police said his medical examination suggested that Banerjee was driving in an intoxicated state.

He has been charged under IPC sections 304(II), 308, 427 — dealing with culpable homicide not amounting to murder (part II), attempt to culpable homicide not amounting to murder and mischief — along with Section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act that deals with drink driving.