Burdwan, April 9: A matador driver cleared a road of children while leaving home this morning but ran over his three-year-old son who had hid-den himself next to the rear wheels.

Uday Thakur could not believe the turn of events even while carrying little Tushar’s body to the burning ghat on the bank of the Damodar this afternoon.

The 37-year-old man was leaving home around 8am — like he does every day — when he found it difficult to drive through the narrow road in front of the Bihari Patty slum as over a dozen children were playing on it.

The road connects the slum with GT Road.

“Uday became angry at having so many children in front of his van. He switched off his engine when repeated honking would not drive the children away. He climbed out of the driver’s cabin and shooed the children away,” said Mohan Chowdhury, 52, who lives in the area and owns a truck.

Seeing his father scolding the other children, Tushar crouched under the van.

Shyamal Chakraborty, 35, a stationery goods supplier, said the boy used to be scared of his father.

“He could not probably run home when he saw his father angry because the matador van was in his way. He sneaked past his father and hid himself. Uday did not see his son and thought that the road was clear. So, he climbed back into the driver’s cabin and started off,” said Shyamal.

He slammed the brakes after hearing a sharp scream.

The residents of the neighbourhood, about 115km from Calcutta, said no one actually saw the boy scurrying under the van.

“We were alerted by the piercing scream and the screech of the brakes. We saw Uday jumping out of his cabin once again and running to the rear of the truck. We saw blood flowing out of the mouth of the child under the rear wheel. Soon he became still,” said Shyamal.

Uday has been driving the van for seven years. He was never involved in an accident before.

“We know him as a cautious driver,” said Chowdhury.

Uday’s wife Meenakshi, 29, and brother Rabi, 26, rushed out of their house, like most other residents, on hearing the commotion.

“We saw Uday sitting with Tushar’s body in his lap and sobbing. He frequently pulled his hair and moaned ‘I have killed my own child’,” said Rabi.

Uday and Meenakshi lost consciousness several times in the day.

“Tushar is my second son and he doesn’t generally go out and play outside,” said Meenakshi, breaking down in tears.

“He must have been called out by his fate today.”

“The incident is tragic, but we will have to arrest the father once the last rites are over,” said Burdwan police station inspector-in-charge Prasun Mukherjee.