Five persons, including a child and a woman, died in two road accidents in Malda district in the past 24 hours.
Police sources said the first occurred when a pick-up van collided head-on with a motorised rickshaw van at Nimbari under Jajoil panchayat of Habibpur police station on Wednesday night.
It had nine passengers returning from a wedding.
Bystanders rushed them to a nearby hospital where Sukurmoni Soren, 43, and Avijit Hansda, 4, succumbed to their injuries.
The injured were referred to the Malda Medical College and Hospital (MMCH) where two more, Amal Mahato, 42, and Sukumar Tudu, 45, were declared dead.
The driver of the pick-up van was assaulted by residents following the accident and rescued by police. He is also admitted to the MMCH.
In the other incident, a person died when a maxi cab overturned at Katikandar under Gazole police station on Thursday afternoon. The deceased is yet to be identified. Thirty other passengers got injured. The vehicle was going to Bamangola from Gazole.
Murder
Bhuben Roy, 32, was allegedly murdered by his younger brothers Saben and Rabin at Gayerkata under Banarhat police station of Jalpaiguri district on Wednesday night.
A source said Roy was a habitual drunk who tortured his family under the influence of alcohol. On Wednesday night, a drunk Bhuben started abusing his family to which his brothers protested. In the altercation that followed, the duo shoved him. Bhuben got a skull fracture and died instantly.
Both the brothers have been arrested.
