The mother of the woman who died in a crash after a highway car chase in Burdwan’s Panagarh late on Sunday night has asked why the Asansol-Durgapur police have not been able to find the passengers in the other car.

The accident in which Sutandra Chattopadhyay, 26, died has snowballed into a mystery. The men in the SUV that crashed with Sutandra’s vehicle have not been found though police found alcohol bottles and disposable glasses in the abandoned SUV.

“More than 36 hours have passed since my daughter died. Why have the cops not been able to trace the passengers of the other vehicle yet? There must be some “ashubha shakti” (evil power) at work,” Tanushree Chattopadhyay, the victim’s mother, told TV channels on Tuesday morning. .

The cops have not been able to trace the owner of the SUV, which is registered in the name of Bablu Yadav, a resident of Panagarh and a scrap dealer, or any of the men who were in the SUV.

Those accompanying the victim in her hatchback on the way to Gaya from Chandernagore had claimed on Monday morning a group of drunk men had chased their vehicle, a blue Tiago, in an SUV from a petrol pump where they had stopped midway to re-fuel.

Later in the evening, Sunil Choudhary, commissioner of police, Asansol-Durgapur, denied any eve-teasing in the road chase and said that overtaking had led to the incident.

The cops had also showed CCTV footage claiming that the hatchback was behind the SUV.

“No lewd behaviour or harassment was reported to us. We have learnt from CCTV footage that the blue Tiago of the deceased was chasing the white SUV,” commissioner Choudhary said.

In the complaint filed with the Kanksa police station, the companions of the deceased did not mention the “lewd comments” made during the alleged car chase.

“I don’t know why they have not said anything. The police must have pressured them. I have not changed [my stand],” the victim’s mother said. “There is some wrongdoing involved which is why the cops are so reluctant to probe the case.”

The 26-year-old victim ran an event management company and a dance troupe.

The driver of the Tiago in which she was travelling had claimed that he had taken another road to shake off the SUV which was chasing them as he was scared about the safety of his “madam.”