Siliguri Metropolitan Police on Monday cracked a late-night hit-and-run case that led to the death of a youth and left a girl injured last week.

The police seized the SUV involved in the incident and arrested the person who was driving the vehicle.

On the intervening night of February 18 and 19, Shankar Chhetri, a 24-year-old gig worker, was returning from a birthday party with one of his friends. Around 12.35am, while they were walking along Sevoke Road, the SUV rammed into them from the rear and sped away.

The police rushed the duo to the hospital, where Shankar died. The girl, who sustained critical injuries, is still under treatment.

“He was the principal earner of the family,” said Manu, the deceased’s sister.

After the incident, the family filed a complaint with the police.

“We checked the CCTV footage and initiated a probe. Today, we got a lead and reached a showroom and found the car in a garage. The dents and the marks of the car matched, and we could confirm that it was the same vehicle that had hit the duo. We could also arrest Debangshu Palchoudhury, who was driving the vehicle,” said Quazi Samsuddin Ahamed, the deputy commissioner of police (traffic).

The car, Ahamed said, is registered in the name of Debangshu's mother.