Two people, including a homemaker, died and four others were critically injured after a car hit an e-rickshaw on NH12 at Jalalpur’s Danga, within the Kaliachak police station limits, in Malda, early on Tuesday morning.
A police source said that around 6am, a speeding car heading towards Kaliachak lost control and rear-ended an e-rickshaw.
The impact was so severe that the e-rickshaw was completely mangled. Its driver, Nurul Sheikh, 50, and a passenger, Adreba Bibi, 48, died on the spot.
After the collision, the car veered off the road and plunged into a roadside ditch.
Four others — two passengers of the e-rickshaw, as well as the driver and a passenger of the car — suffered serious injuries.
The injured were admitted to Malda Medical College and Hospital (MMCH) for treatment.
A police team recovered the bodies and sent them to MMCH for post-mortem. Later, the car was pulled out of the ditch.
Ashikul Sheikh, an eyewitness, stated that the car lost control while trying to overtake the e-rickshaw.
Police have seized both vehicles. Investigations are on.
Brown sugar haul
A joint team of the NBMCH outpost of the Matigara police station and a special operation group of the Siliguri Metropolitan Police, acting on a tip-off, seized 1.906kg of brown sugar (a derivative of heroin) in Siliguri on Tuesday.
Two persons were arrested in this connection.