HOWRAH: A
traffic sergeant
of the
Howrah City Police
(HCP) was mowed down by a 10-wheel trailer on the Kona Expressway on Tuesday morning. The incident occurred near the Panchawati road underbridge, about 5 km from Vidyasagar Setu. The incident took place after the victim Sukhendu Sarkar (45), an assistant sub-inspector, chased the trailer on his motorcycle.
The driver of the trailer had violated a traffic signal and was trying to speed away towards National Highway 6.
Sarkar was on duty near the narrow underbridge when he spotted the trailer speeding in a dangerous manner. After the driver refused to stop at his command, the sergeant initiated a chase on his motorcycle. The police officer overtook the trailer signalling the driver to slow down.Instead of stopping, the driver of tthe trai ler accelerated and overtook Sarkar. While doing so, he swerved to the left, pushing the traffic sergeant to the edge of Kona Expressway . As the rear of the trailer swayed to the left, it knocked down Sarkar and he was crushed under its wheels. The incident occurred barely a few km from where actor Pijush Ganguly's car collided head on with a truck on October 20, 2015. According to the cops, 60 percent of all road accidents in Howrah town happen between 5 am and 8 am due to rash driving by goods vehicles.
Ashok Nath Chatterjee, ACP , traffic, HCP said: “We have examined CCTV footage of how the ASI was killed by the trailer. We hope to nab the truck driver soon.“
The police have slapped the driver with charges under Section 304 of the IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) but officers said that he could be also charged with murder.