A Belgium-based software engineer, back home on leave to look for a job, fell victim to traffic anarchy on VIP Road while he was on his way to appear in an interview on Friday morning.
Masum Minhaz, 25, was riding a motorcycle wearing a helmet when a car beside him swerved to the right to avoid a vehicle parked illegally on the road and hit the two-wheeler at the Kaikhali crossing around 10.45am.
Witnesses said the youth lost his balance and tumbled on the road only to be crushed under the wheels of a speeding minibus on the airport-Jadavpur route.
The Madhyamgram resident was rushed to a nursing home in the locality where he was declared dead on arrival. Police said the youth’s head was smashed.
Asim Ghosh, who witnessed the mishap, said bystanders had screamed at the bus driver to stop when Masum fell off his bike but it was too late by then. “The bus came to a halt only after running over the man,” said Ghosh.
Rahul Srivastava, the superintendent of North 24-Parganas police, said the driver had fled with his vehicle.
Masum, the only child of his schoolteacher parents Abdul Mannan and Marjina, was working as a software developer in the Belgium unit of an Indian company. Family sources said he had joined the firm two years ago after completing a bachelors degree in software development from a private college in Salt Lake.
“He was unhappy working in a faraway place and worried about his parents and sister. He had come home on a month’s leave and was desperately looking for a job in the city. A reputable firm had called him for an interview in its Sector V office. But rash driving claimed his life while he was on his way to Salt Lake,” said Masum’s nephew Moinuddin.
Residents said vehicles were parked illegally along that stretch of VIP Road and rash driving was quite rampant. “There is just no policing on the artery,” said a resident.
The cops, however, pleaded helplessness. “Six major crossings on the road are manned by 12 cops. Ideally, there should be 18 cops but we can’t deploy any more men because of an acute staff crunch,” said an officer.
