A speeding SUV hit a pedestrian, killing him on the spot, before ramming into a roadside shop and an e-rickshaw, commonly known as a Toto, in Nadia’s Krishnanagar on Tuesday morning.
The victim was waiting for a bus at the time on the side of a lane of NH12.
The mishap, which took place at 6.34am near Palpara More of NH12, was captured by a nearby CCTV camera. The footage revealed that the driver and four passengers of the SUV appeared to be in a state of inebriation, and were distracted while negotiating a turn at high speed.
The vehicle, which was heading towards Behrampore, lost control, overturned and crashed into a Toto repair workshop before hitting a Toto and the victim, 49-year-old Sujit Mahato of Jhitkipota Subhasgram.
Mahato, who worked at a rice mill in Dhubulia, was standing in front of the workshop when the SUV “blew him away”, according to local people.
The impact of the crash brought down the shop’s front shed, and Mahato was hurled against a wall.
Bystanders rushed him to the Nadia District Hospital in Shaktinagar, where doctors declared him dead.
“The victim apparently panicked after seeing the vehicle fail to take the turn and tried to run to safety. But he was unlucky as the vehicle hit him before he could get out of its way,” said a witness.
Mahato’s nephew, Rakesh Mahato, said: “My uncle used to take the bus every day from the same spot, and was waiting there on his way to work when the vehicle hit him.”
“He was standing away from the road in a safer zone, but even that turned out to be unsafe. If vehicles run in such a reckless way, nobody can feel safe on the road,” he added.
Police and local sources said the driver and passengers of the SUV managed to flee immediately after the accident.
The vehicle, which overturned during the crash, has been impounded.
“A probe has begun. We are trying to identify the owner of the vehicle and the persons travelling in it. The driver and passengers fled from the spot soon after the car overturned, and eyewitnesses told us they seemed to be in an inebriated state,” said Shilpi Paul, a DSP of the Krishnanagar police district.
Residents alleged a lack of police vigilance on that stretch of NH12.
“Since NH12 got widened, many motorists drive recklessly. Police have little control over them except putting up speed restriction signage. The connecting points crossings, and turns on the highway have become extremely vulnerable. The need of the hour is mandatory deployment of police personnel to ensure pedestrian safety,” said a local resident.
The police have begun a probe based on a complaint filed by the victim’s family. The cause of the accident and the identities of the absconding occupants of the SUV are being verified.