Bangur: A 60-year-old woman died after being knocked down by a private bus that did not slow down despite the traffic signal at the Bangur-VIP Road intersection turning amber on Monday morning.

Passersby took Usha Das, a resident of Gouranganagar near New Town, to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, where he was declared dead.

Das got off a bus in the Ultadanga-bound flank of VIP Road at the Bangur bus stop and was trying to cross the road when a bus on route 44 (Baguiati-Howrah) mowed her down.

An officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate said the bus that hit the woman had been speeding despite the traffic signal at the intersection turning amber.

Motorists are supposed to slow down at the sight of an amber light, which serves as an alert before the signal turns red.

The killer bus sped away after the accident. Traffic policemen at the crossing, alerted by shouts of passengers and witnesses, radioed the registration number to colleagues along the route.

Cops posted a few hundred metres from the accident spot managed to stop the bus.

"Witnesses said the victim was headed towards Bangur, where we learnt she worked as a domestic help. The bus overtook a car and swerved to left before hitting her. She was flung into the air before landing hard on the asphalt," an officer said.

Bholanath Das, 50, the driver of the killer bus, has been arrested and charged under various IPC sections, including 304A (causing death by rash or negligent act), 279 (driving rashly to endanger life) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by an act which endangers human life). If convicted, he can be jailed for two years.

On Saturday, two bicycleborne youths were crushed under the wheels of a bus turning right towards Nicco Park from the Bypass at the Chingrighata intersection. The incident triggered widespread violence as a mob set fire to at least two buses and damaged a dozen more vehicles, including a fire engine that had been called to douse the flames.