Was it or wasn't it? A police jeep, that is. Amnesia has gripped Patna police a day after one if its vehicles allegedly crushed a teenaged girl's leg at Buddha Marg.

On Wednesday, Patna police said they were not "100 per cent sure" it was a police jeep that dashed against a bike and then crushed the leg of one of two passengers riding pillion who fell of on impact on Tuesday afternoon.

There sure is a credible way of finding out - a CCTV camera is installed right above the accident spot - but Kotwali police station seems unaware of it.

Kotwali police station house officer (SHO) Ramesh Kumar Singh said: "It is still not verified that a police vehicle hit the trio, including the girl. However, the police are going by the victim's statement and necessary investigations are on. The police are looking for a white-coloured vehicle. I will have to check on the CCTV camera. If it is installed, one can scan footage. As for now, there is no breakthrough and work is on."

The accident site is just 150m from the Kotwali police station and the camera is right above, fixed to a board flashing poll advertisement related to chief minister Nitish Kumar. Everybody except the police seem to have spotted it.

The accident took place around 2.45pm when a police jeep, used to escort VIPs, slammed into a bike ferrying three people, including two girls. One of the girls, a resident of Mithapur, fell off the bike, right in front of the jeep. The speeding vehicle crushed one of her legs and fled without caring to stop.

The girl and the boy riding the bike later told the police it was a police jeep.

"It has come to our knowledge that the girl has been released from the private hospital she was admitted in. The injuries, as said earlier, are not serious. The case has also been referred to the traffic police station for an investigation and the Kotwali police station is also looking into it," the officer said.

When contacted, Patna superintendent of police (Central) Chandan Khuswaha assured that necessary investigations were on.

"The police have asked for a list of escort vehicles and are trying to figure out the one which was allegedly speeding at Buddha Marg yesterday, leading to the accident. There is a CCTV camera and we can say for now that all necessary steps are being taken. The police expects to arrive at a breakthrough in the next couple of days," the SP told The Telegraph.

A police officer, on conditions of anonymity, said it lies to be seen whether or not the CCTV camera at Buddha Marg was operational. "I cannot say much but there are times when some cameras do not work. They do develop technical problems. Right now the camera is working but I don't have an idea whether or not it was working yesterday," the officer said.

On Tuesday, Raju Kumar, an eyewitness who runs a tyre repair shop at the accident site, had said: "The jeep was white in colour and some policemen were in it. The boy wanted to take a right turn, towards the Bihar Industries Association ( BIA) building, but while doing so the jeep hit the bike from behind after which the biker lost balance. As a result, one of the girls fell off the bike. The jeep ran over one of her legs and sped away. The driver tried to slow down following the accident, but changed mind and gear on seeing residents rush towards the accident spot. The girl was writhing in pain and we arranged for a vehicle and rushed her to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH). The two other persons on the bike, including the rider, were okay and lucky to escape without a scratch."

After residents helped take the girl to the hospital, the bike was taken to the Kotwali police station and the police informed about the incident.

The police had reached PMCH and also quizzed Rachit Raj, who was riding the bike. He too told the police that the jeep never stopped after crushing the girl's leg. Later, Rachit, who made a statement before the Kotwali police station, said: "We were triple-riding but were not speeding."

On Tuesday the policemen had cautioned motorbike riders, particularly youngsters who tend to be reckless, against triple riding.

"I have come to know about it and it is sad that they were triple riding. It is a big menace in Patna and each day we are collecting fines almost in the range of Rs 25,000 on an average, just for triple- riding. People should refrain from doing this. The fine for tripleriding rests at Rs 100 but the fine amount goes up once a thorough check of documents in the possession of those caught by the police is conducted," Patna SP ( traffic), P. K. Das had said.