Calcutta, May 3: Speeding wheels continued their killing streak today, running over a person on VIP Road.

A pedestrian was mowed down by a Maruti Omni at Kaikhali around 9.30 this morning.

“The victim, Saroj Majumdar from Bongaon, was walking along the road at Kaikhali when a speeding Maruti Omni heading to Ultadanga hit him from behind,” an officer from Baguiati police station said.

Witnesses told police that the driver of the Omni, Dawood Biswas, lost control of the wheel while trying to race a car.

“The Omni veered towards the extreme left of the thoroughfare where the victim, in his early 50s, was walking,” the officer said.

Biswas tried to speed away but was trapped in a traffic snarl. The police arrested him and seized the vehicle.

As news of the accident spread, residents rushed to the spot and squatted on the road, blocking traffic for 15 minutes. Officers from Baguiati police station arrived and pacified the protesters.

Some people took Majumdar to a nearby private healthcare centre, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.

With today’s death, the VIP Road toll since January has touched 30. On April 4, 21 people were killed when a speeding private bus fell into a canal.

An hour after Majumdar was mowed down, a 25-year-old came under the wheels of the luxury bus he used to work for as a helper.

The driver was parking the bus in Chetla but failed to notice that Manik Pradhan, 25, had got off.

“The bus was reversing, but Pradhan did not see it. The rear part of the bus hit him and then the wheels crushed him to death,” said Vineet Goyal, deputy commissioner of police, headquarters.

A third mishap took place on Bidhan Sarani, near the Shyambazar five-point crossing. Mohammad Israil, in his late 30s, was seriously injured when he fell off the foot-board of a private bus.

He was admitted to R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, where he has been kept under observation.