A 40-year-old woman crossing VIP Road violating a traffic signal was crushed under the wheels of a private bus on Sunday evening.

Around 50 policemen were deployed on the spot then as the chief minister’s convoy was scheduled to pass by a while later.

Police said Bina Devi Shaw and husband Omprakash (picture on left), both residents of Bowbazar’s Fakir Chandra Dey Lane, were on their way to a relative’s house in Jyangra when the mishap occurred.

“The two alighted from a bus at Baguiati and were trying to cross the road, ignoring the signal, to take another bus to Jyangra,” said an officer of Baguiati traffic guard.

Debashish Moitra, who witnessed the accident, said Omprakash had crossed the road making way through the rushing traffic but Bina was stuck in the middle of the road and mowed down by the bus on route 30C/1.

The bus tried to speed off but was intercepted by police near the airport. “The bus has been impounded and the driver and his help have been detained,” said Paresh Roy, the officer-in-charge of Baguiati police station.

Following Sunday’s death, the accident toll on VIP Road since January has risen to 36, including 21 deaths after a bus fell into a roadside canal in April.

Another mishap: Four persons were injured when the car they were travelling in rammed into a bus on route 237 on Jessore Road, near gate No. 3. “The injured were admitted to a nursing home. Their condition is stable,” said an officer of airport police station.