A senior mathematics teacher of South Point High School was crushed to death by a bus after his motorbike skidded on the rain-soaked EM Bypass near the Ruby roundabout on Wednesday morning.

Prabir Majumdar, 59, was on his way to school from his South Purbachal home off the Anwar Shah Road connector. His bike skidded on a culvert at Mandirpara between Abhishikta housing complex and Ruby hospital.

A bus (route 47B) heading in the same direction ran over him at 8.45am. The bus driver has been arrested.

Majumdar was wearing a helmet but it cracked under the wheels. Police took him to Ruby hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

Though the stretch between Ruby and Hiland Park doesn’t have potholes, it becomes muddy and extremely slippery in the rain because of the ongoing construction of the Garia-Airport Metro line along the median. Majumdar couldn’t control his bike when he passed that slippery stretch.

Several former students and teachers of the school rushed to the hospital after learning about Majumdar’s accident. “This is an extremely unfortunate incident. The entire school is in a state of grief,” a school official said.

A memorial service will be held on Thursday.

His colleagues, many of whom have worked with him for over a decade, remember him as a lively man. His students said they would miss his sense of humour apart from his excellent lectures.

He used to teach students of Class IX to XII.

“Even when he had to reprimand a student, he would use his wit instead of shouting at him,” said Hindol Bhattacharya, a former student of Majumdar who is now doing his MA in Jadavpur University.