Samuel Sahani Bishwarup Dutta

The Telegraph

The police said Samuel, a student of Future Hope School and a fan of Justin Bieber and Neymar-Messi, had sneaked out of their Beltala Road house in Bhowanipore with Amit in tow early on Saturday, while other members of the family were still sleeping.

“Samuel would often go out on a joyride with Amit on his elder brother’s bike. They did so a number of times even during the Puja,” another officer of the police station said.

On Saturday morning, their destination was Prinsep Ghat.

Once they reached the ghat, the two decided to ride further towards Howrah through Vidyasagar Setu. On their way back, they met with the accident.

The focus of the state government’s “Safe Drive Save Life” campaign has been on ensuring bikers wear helmets. “The message does not seem to have reached a section of the bikers. Had the boy been wearing a helmet, he would have survived the crash,” an officer of the Vidyasagar Setu traffic guard said.

A biker, riding without a helmet, was killed after a cab hit the two-wheeler on CR Avenue in the Jorasanko area on Friday morning. Sanjay Singh, from Uttarpara in Hooghly district and an employee of the fire brigade’s central division, was headed towards south Calcutta around 4.45am when he was hit, the police said.

There were numerous instances of helmet-less bikers speeding down city roads on the festive days.

With almost the entire police force having been assigned the task of controlling the crowd, there was hardly any prosecution for helmet-less riding, officers admitted.

Bikers without helmets were seen in large numbers on AJC Bose Road, Parama flyover and the Bypass during the Puja. A number of people alleged that the bikers were moving around dangerously early in the morning and late at night.

The bike that Samuel had been riding at Hastings police station. Bishwarup Dutta

A 17-year-old boy speeding down the AJC Bose Road-bound ramp of Vidyasagar Setu met with a fatal accident apparently while trying to do a namaskar with both his hands on Saturday morning.

Police said the two-wheeler — a Bajaj Pulsar — crashed into the guard wall of the ramp.

“While Samuel Sahani was fatally injured, Amit Balmiki, the pillion rider, was thrown off the bike under the impact of the crash. Neither was wearing a helmet,” an officer of Hastings police station said.

The two were taken to SSKM Hospital, where Samuel died. Amit was treated and discharged.

Samuel, being a minor, did not have a driving licence.

“We have learnt that while approaching the Syed Baba Mazhar, near the Kidderpore crossing of AJC Bose Road, Samuel took his hands off the handle to do a namaskar. The two-wheeler, which was coming down the ramp of Vidyasagar Setu at a high speed, swerved and crashed into the guard wall of the ramp. Cops in a patrol van rushed to the spot and alerted the police station,” the officer said.

The Pulsar, which belonged to Samuel’s elder brother, has been seized and will be sent for a mechanical test.