4 killed in accident near Nabanna

HOWRAH: Four persons were killed, and two seriously injured, after being run over by a truck on Kona Expressway, barely 150m from Nabanna on Thursday.
Locals alleged the accident happened as the truck was speeding to avoid civic policemen asking it to stop and ‘pay up’. Howrah City Police, however, denied the allegation.
Among the dead was little Ishita, who died on the eve of her sixth birthday.Her mother Anindita (35), their maid Pushpa Panja (55) and an unidentified motorcyclist were also dragged and crushed under the wheels. Three of the victims died on the spot. Locals rushed Anindita to SSKM Hospital but she succumbed on the way. The accident also left cycle van driver Samir Majhi and an unidentified cyclist seriously injured.
Witness Sabir Ali said that around 11.20am, the Howrah-bound empty truck had driven just 750m from the toll plaza and reached the Sheikhpara crossing where Anindita, Pushpa and Ishita alighted from a bus. There the driver lost control. Locals alleged the truck driver accelerated when civic policemen began chasing the vehicle for a bribe. Police, though, denied the allegation. Howrah City Police’s DC Traffic Sumit Kumar said, “The driver was either in a daze or the truck’s brakes failed.” The enraged crowd blocked traffic on the arm of Kona Expressway that leads to Santragachi till 1.30pm, when a crane arrived to remove the truck.