The Commissioner of Asansol-Durgapur Police Sunil Choudhary on Monday evening denied Sutandra Chattopadhyay’s car was chased by miscreants late on Sunday night before the crash that killed her.
"The victim’s car was chasing the other car on a road adjacent to the expressway. The other car went inside a lane and the woman’s car too tried to follow it inside the lane, lost control and overturned causing the woman’s death. There was no eve-teasing involved in the incident at all," Choudhary said during a news conference Monday evening.
The Asansol-Durgapur police also shared some footage with the local media that purportedly showed a blue car (in which Sutandra Chattopadhyay was travelling) behind a white car in top speed.
The incident occurred at Panagarh’s Rice Mill Road around 1.30am in the intervening night of Sunday and Monday. A Chandernagore resident, the deceased was employed with an event management company. On Sunday night she had left her residence to travel to Gaya.
Soon after CP Sunil Choudhary’s denial Trinamul spokesperson Kunal Ghosh iterated the claim in Kolkata.
Ghosh said the Burdwan police had ruled out any harassment in the Panagarh incident.
"The cops could not find any eve-teasing angle in their probe. Overtaking led to the incident on the highway. Some vested interests tried to link this with the law and order situation in the state to create a fake narrative," said Ghosh. “It is not possible to keep cops at every point on a highway. People should act responsibly while driving.”
On Monday morning those accompanying the victim had said that a group of drunken youths had chased them for around 19 km from a petrol pump at Budbud to Panagarh where the mishap occurred.
“We were at the petrol pump when these youths made a pass at her. From then on they started following us and tried to push us off the road,” said Mintu Mandal, one of the victims, who was injured.
While the victim and others travelling with her were found at the spot and why those travelling in the other vehicle with registration number WB40AT1974 fled and have not been found yet, the Asansol-Durgapur cops have not clarified.
The victim’s mother, Tanushree Chattopadhyay, who lodged a complaint at the Kanksa police station, has accused the cops of trying to shield others involved in the incident.
“More than 19 hours have passed since the incident. Why have the travellers in the other car not yet been traced or identified? What are the police trying to hide? It seems there is no administration at work,” she was quoted as saying.
