Tanushree Chatterjee, the mother of the young event management professional, whose car crashed in West Burdwan’s Kanksa on Monday, allegedly after being chased by a group of drunken youths in an SUV, has accused police of shielding the culprits.

With no arrest yet, a senior IPS officer said conflicting reports made the Bengal government press the CID to investigate what led to the death of 26-year-oldSutandra Chatterjee.

“There are differences in the opinions of the victim’s family and friends and preliminary findings of the police.... Therefore, the CID has stepped in,” said the police officer.

In the early hours of Monday, Sutandra, a resident of Chandernagore in Hooghly, died after her car hit a concrete wall, off NH19 in Kanksa, and overturned.

Sutandra’s mother, Tanushree Chatterjee, along with the driver of her dark blue hatchback, repeatedly claimed the young woman’s vehicle was being chased by drunken men in a white SUV.

However, their claim came under scrutiny after the Asansol–Durgapur police commissionerate released CCTV footage showing the hatchback behind the SUV.

A police source said they were making every effort to arrest Bablu Yadav, a local scrap dealer out on bail for car theft, who was allegedly driving the SUV along with four other intoxicated youths.

Bablu and others fled, leaving the SUV behind, after Sutandra’s car crashed into a grocery shop and a public toilet before overturning, killing her instantly. Empty liquor bottles were found insidethe SUV.

A police team visited Bablu’s residence and godown in Panagarh twice since Monday. “We are actively searching for Bablu Yadav.... We will nab him and those with him soon. As of now, we have confirmed Bablu was driving the SUV,” said Suman Jaiswal, assistant commissioner of police, Kanksa.

Police filed a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against unknown persons in the SUV.

A CID team visited Kanksa, examined the two vehicles, reviewed the FIR, gathered information independently and inspected the accident site.

Tanushree fumed at the police. “Instead of arresting those who chased my daughter in a drunken state, the police are busy shielding them. They are trying to frame the incident as a mere race between two cars.... Why has no one been arrested yet?”she asked.

BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul visited Sutandra’s mother in Chandernagore on Tuesday. “What is the point of Lakshmir Bhandar (scheme) when women are not safe in Bengal? There was no highway patrol team to assist Sutandra when she was trying to escape from drunken men,” said theBJP MLA.

CPM state secretary Md Salim and youth leader Minakshi Mukherjee also visited the Chatterjee home. So did a member of the West Bengal Commission for Women, Sujata Pakrashi Lahiri.

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said preliminary probe of the police suggested “reckless overtaking” and urged everyone “not to jump to conclusions before the facts arefully established”.