The family of the food delivery agent, who died in a road accident in Salt Lake on Wednesday, has accused police of inaction in arresting the driver of the car that hit his motorcycle.
They alleged that despite the vehicle’s registration number being available, the driver remained untraceable for more than 12 hours.
They alleged that when they went to the police station to lodge a complaint, they were denied entry and driven out. They alleged that the police themselves had written the complaint and obtained the signature of an illiterate family member, PTI reported.
The family also said police and fire services arrived late, and the accident site was not secured despite heavy rain.
Witnesses alleged that officers made little effort to rescue the victim, who was trapped between railings before catching fire.
“He was hanging upside down from the railing, and his clothes were stuck. He burned to death in front of us,” one witness said.
Another alleged, “The police were making videos without doing anything. We rescued people from the car ourselves. The driver was intoxicated.”
According to police, the victim, identified as 22-year-old Soumen Mondal of Hiranmaypur in South 24-Parganas.
He was killed after a private car, which had collided with other vehicles, hit a lamp post and railing, and caught fire, crashed into his two-wheeler near a bridge connecting Salt Lake and VIP Road.
His trousers became entangled in the railing, preventing him from escaping the flames.
Three occupants of the cars and a pedestrian were injured.
According to The Telegraph report, one of them, advocate Manas Agarwal, was rescued from the gutted vehicle, while his driver fled. Nilanjan Basu and Achintya Chanda from the second car were also rescued, along with pedestrian Aditya Jha. All were hospitalised.
The accident led to violent protests, with locals pelting stones at police and fire tenders.
“After rescuing some occupants, fire tenders were obstructed by stone-pelting. The situation turned volatile, and we had to wait for reinforcements. By the time additional forces arrived, one person had unfortunately died,” said Aneesh Sarkar, deputy commissioner of Bidhannagar police.
Officers fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Police said a case has been registered under charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and assault on police personnel.
“There is no arrest so far, and investigation is on,” a senior officer said. A forensic team is expected to visit the site on Thursday.