Three of the four youths riding a motorcycle were killed early Saturday morning when the two-wheeler skidded off a rain-soaked road and plunged into a drain in Patharpratima, South 24-Parganas.
The fourth youth was rescued in critical condition and admitted to Diamond Harbour Medical College and Hospital.
The deceased were Subrata Mondal, 24, Dipankar Mondal, 19, and Mostakin, 30. The injured youth is Sanjay Mondal.
Police said all the four were residents of Raghabpur in Basirhat town, North 24-Parganas, and were working under a contractor of a water supply project at Dholahat in Patharpratima.
The accident occurred while they were returning from a rural fair held on the occasion of Rath Yatra, a relative of one of the deceased youths said.
According to the police and local sources, heavy and continuous rain overnight had made the road slippery. The motorcycle, reportedly travelling at high speed, lost control at Arjun More in Ramganga village and skidded nearly 300 meters before falling into a roadside drain. Eyewitnesses said the accident took place around 5am.
“There was a crushing sound, and we saw the motorcycle skidding fast towards the drain,” said a resident.
“We rushed there and found four youths scattered in the drain with the motorcycle in the water. Three of them had already died. We took the fourth one to Godamuthra Primary Health Centre, from where he was referred to Diamond Harbour Medical College & Hospital,” the resident added.
Following a preliminary investigation, the police said the four youths were under the influence of alcohol and none of them was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. However, it could not be immediately confirmed who among the four was riding the motorcycle.
Mother ‘kills’ child
Police have arrested a young homemaker, Rupa Ghosh, for allegedly killing her six-month-old son, reportedly because of a dispute with her husband at Shaguna in Kalyani, Nadia district.
On Thursday, Rupa had told the police that her baby had gone missing. However, inconsistencies in her statements led to her detention, and during interrogation, she confessed to killing the child by throwing him into the safety tank of a latrine. The police recovered the body.