The driver of the minibus that had hit seven persons on motorcycles at the Mayo Road-Dufferin Road crossing in central Kolkata on Tuesday was arrested from near Jadavpur in the southern part of the city on Wednesday evening.
Police identified the driver as Santosh Roy.
Officers said their investigations so far had shown that Roy did not even have a driving licence on him while at the wheel on Tuesday. He had allegedly not collected the document from Lalbazar after it was seized during a previous road offence.
“This means he was in the habit of violating traffic rules,” an officer said.
The bus that Roy was driving has 85 citation cases against it at present — which means the vehicle had jumped signals, violated central lines and committed other offences for which citation cases have been raised against it.
However, it is not clear how many of these offences have been committed with Roy at the driving seat.
The police have slapped a non-bailable charge of attempt to culpable homicide not amounting to murder in addition to sections of rash driving and mischief against Roy.
Of the seven persons who were taken to SSKM hospital after the accident, one motorcyclist, Awadesh Kumar, 29, has received multiple fractures and may need surgery, the police said. The others have been discharged.
The minibus on the Santoshpur-BBD Bag route was on its way towards Esplanade on Tuesday evening when it had hit multiple two-wheelers waiting at a traffic signal and came to a halt after it rammed into a yellow taxi.
Sources said, the preliminary mechanical test of the vehicle has not shown any defect in the bus that could have prompted the accident on Tuesday.
The driver has purportedly told the police that he was “distracted” and thinking about his son’s illness when he lost control.
The charge of attempt to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, if proved before the court, could lead to a maximum punishment of seven years in jail.
Tripura chief minister’s OSD called for questioning
Kolkata police have called an officer on special duty of Tripura chief minister Biplab Deb for questioning in connection with a case of allegedly forging statistics related to the Covid-19 positivity rate in Kolkata.
The police said OSD Sanjay Mishra had allegedly tweeted on October 30 forged documents to spread false information on Kolkata. Cops have issued a notice to Mishra under section 41A of the CrPC on Wednesday seeking his presence at Narkeldanga police station on Thursday, failing which he could be arrested, as mentioned in the notice.
