Residents of Dum Dum Park chased down two racing private buses that attempted to speed away after one of them knocked down a man on VIP Road and ransacked the vehicles on Friday afternoon.

Passengers forced the driver and conductors of the bus on route 217 that hit pedestrian Uday Sen to stop near Kestopur. Within seconds, 10 Dum Dum Park residents on a car and motorcycles had reached the bus. The driver and conductors ran away before the passengers and residents could get their hands on them.

“We could catch up with the bus only because the passengers on it had made the driver stop,” said Sukumar Pal, who was in the car.

By then, another group of residents had stopped the other bus, plying on route 217A, a few feet away. “Some people caught one of the conductors and thrashed him but he managed to break free and fled,” said one of the residents.

They broke the windshields of both buses and threw bricks at the vehicles before officers of Baguiati traffic guard restrained them.

Sen was taken to Daffodil Nursing Home in Lake Town by passers-by. He was shifted to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital after his condition worsened.

The police said Sen was pronounced out of danger by doctors on Friday night.

The 55-year-old was trying to cross VIP Road when he was hit near the 12C/2 terminus at Dum Dum Park around 4.10pm, said witnesses. According to them, the traffic light was green at the time.

“The 217 overtook the 217A, lost control and hit a middle-aged man in a check shirt and black trousers,” said Sanjib Ball, a conductor on the 12C/2 route.

“A tyre went over the man’s leg. A toe was severed. He also suffered a deep cut on his head and was bleeding profusely. It seemed that his skull had cracked,” added Ball, who took Sen to hospital.

Baguiati traffic guard was informed. Its officers turned up at the spot about 15 minutes after the accident, said residents.

The officers informed Baguiati police station, which in turn alerted Lake Town police station as the accident had taken place in the area under its jurisdiction. Lake Town cops towed away the vehicles.

“A case of rash driving has been started against the driver of the bus plying on route 217. We are trying to track him down,” said an officer of Lake Town police station.

In end-June, a man died after being run over on the same stretch by a bus that was not identified.