Feb. 12: A 32-year-old entrepreneur returning home in his friend's Skoda Rapid was killed early today when the car collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction on Jawaharlal Nehru Road, in front of Elliot Park.

Karan Bakliwal, owner of the Bang Bang café and lounge on Sarat Bose Road, was seated on the rear left side that bore the brunt of the crash. He was declared dead on arrival at CMRI Hospital.

His friend Rishabh Kochar, who was driving the grey Skoda Rapid, didn't require hospitalisation. Rishabh's wife Simarpreet Sahni, who was in the front passenger seat, is in the intensive care unit of CMRI with severe facial injuries.

The accident occurred around 4.30am, when the car was travelling towards Rabindra Sadan from Esplanade en route to Harish Mukherjee Road. "Rishabh called me after the accident and just about managed to say where they were. I informed the police and rushed to the spot," his uncle Tarun Kochar said.

Karan, Rishabh and Simarpreet were driving back home - the Kochars and the Bakliwals reside in the same neighbourhood - after attending a common friend's pre-wedding invitation at South City Residential Towers. They had dropped two other guests in north Calcutta.

The fatal crash occurred at the intersection where vehicles on JL Nehru Road headed for Harish Mukherjee Road take the right exit to Cathedral Road. At night, when traffic signals are in blink mode, this intersection can be tricky to negotiate, especially if visibility is low. But several morning walkers said there was no fog in the area today morning.

The tyre marks at the accident site suggest that the truck had swerved left towards the pavement along Elliot Park, the flank that the sedan would need to be on to take Cathedral Road.

The police said it was unclear whether the truck driver was at fault or if he had swerved to avoid a collision.