Two persons, including the four-year-old daughter of a police constable working as the security guard of Trinamul’s Birbhum chief Anubrata Mondal, were killed after a car hit a stationary truck on Illambazar-Bolpur Road in the small hours of Wednesday.
The accident drew sharp response from the BJP which demanded a thorough investigation citing “mysterious” elements in the tragedy.
Police sources said the deceased were Sifat Azeen, 4, police constable Sigal Hossain’s younger daughter, and Madhab Kaibartya, 40, Sigal’s friend and owner of a petrol pump in Bolpur.
Sources in Trinamul said Sigal and his family, along with Madhab, had gone to Durgapur for shopping before Id. They were returning home in Bolpur after a late night dinner in Durgapur in two separate cars. The car which met with the accident had Madhab and Sigal’s daughter. Following them in another car was Sigal, his wife and elder daughter.
The police said the driver of the first car could not see the standing truck as the road passes through Illambazar forest without streetlights. The police said they were probing if the driver, who is now hospitalised, was drunk.
The accident took a political turn as the BJP demanded a CBI probe. Sigal, as Anubrata’s security guard, is close to him and was earlier quizzed by the CBI in the cattle smuggling case.
BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said the CBI should look into the accident.
“There is a scope of doubt in this case. We knew Anubrata Mondal used the phone of his security guard (Sigal) to contact police or district officials to direct them. So, it should not be treated as a common road mishap. It should be investigated properly. The CBI should look into who was involved…. How did such an accident happen late at night when traffic was very thin? Was it a plan to kill him (Sigal),” asked Majumdar.
Calls to Anubrata went unanswered.
Trinamul leaders said the BJP was playing dirty politics over an accident where a child lost her life.
“It’s shameful for a party to play politics with a road accident that killed a four-year-old girl,” said a Trinamul leader.
