Behrampore, April 13: Seven passengers were killed as two racing buses collided on a highway in Murshidabad today.

Police said the two North Bengal State Transport Corporation buses — one headed for Rampurhat in Birbhum, the other going to Siliguri — were trying to overtake each other on National Highway 34, about 235km from Calcutta.

At Ratanpur, the bus going to Rampurhat hit a trailer head-on and came to a halt. The other bus hit the first one from behind. The Rampurhat-bound bus got crushed between the two vehicles.

Of the seven who died, three were women.

Thirty-five people were injured. Thirty of them were admitted to Behrampore New General Hospital and five were taken to Sagardighi Rural Hospital.

Subir Bhadra, the district magistrate of Murshidabad, said a probe had been ordered.

The accident comes nine days after 20 people died when a speeding bus fell into a canal near VIP Road in Calcutta.

Bangla fugitive

A Bangladeshi wanted in at least 50 cases of robbery, murder and rape was arrested on Saturday night in Nadia district, about 180km from Calcutta.

Police said the government had requested Dhaka to hand over Syed Mollah, 40.

Syed was believed to be hiding in Kustia, Bangladesh, for the past one year. When police there started looking for him, he crossed over to India and hid in Hogolberia, Nadia, where he was caught.