A Maruti Zen skidded off EM Bypass while approaching the Baghajatin flyover, crashed into the median divider and landed on the other flank around midnight on Sunday, killing a businessman who was at the wheel.

Police said the wheels of the car, which 47-year-old Sumanta Chowdhury was driving on his way home to Santoshpur from Patuli, had rolled over the stem of a tree in the median divider before the vehicle switched flanks.

Chowdhury, who was alone in the car, died on the spot.

The businessman was so badly trapped in the mangled remains of the car that firefighters had to use gas-cutters to extract him. He was taken to MR Bangur Hospital, where he was declared dead.

Police suspect Chowdhury, who is survived by his wife and daughter, was speeding. “A forensic test will reveal the speed of the vehicle when it hit the median divider,” an officer said.

When cops reached the spot, they saw skid marks stretching a few hundred meters from the middle of the Science City-bound flank.

“Around 12.15am, the vehicle veered off its track and rammed into the median divider. The railing on the divider bent under the impact of the crash and the wheels rolled over the stem of a tree in the divider. The car broke through the railing and entered the other flank,” an officer in the fatal squad of the traffic department said.

Police and members of the the disaster management group tried to pull Chowdhury out of the car but failed. Patuli fire station was alerted, from where a team armed with gas-cutters arrived.

The police later put up guardrails at the spot where the railing on the median divider was smashed.

The approach to the flyover, which north-bound vehicles from Patuli or further south take, does not have speed breakers or traffic signals. The closest signals are at the Patuli crossing and in front of Hiland Park.