Father, son die in highway accident

KOLKATA: A young businessman from Ultadanga and his four-yearold son were killed in an accident at Uluberia’s

Manasatala

, on NH-6, which is around 40km from the city. The accident took place around 3.45am on Sunday.

Pritam Saha (35) was driving back home with his family after celebrating his mother-in-law’s birthday party at a dhaba in Kolkaghat.

Pritam was at the wheels of the car and his son Shivamsat next to him. His wife, Nabanita (30), mother-in-law Madhumita Ghosh (52) and Pritam’s friend Harshit Mehta were in the backseat when the car rammed into a truck from behind.

While Saha and his son were killed on the spot, three others were taken to a local hospital after the accident. Later, they were shifted to a city hospital, where their condition was stated to be critical.

Saha is the son-in-law of Bapi Ghosh, Ward 7 councillor and the chairperson of

Kolkata Municipal Corporation

’s accounts committee. Relatives said Saha had recently bought a Maruti Swift Dzire under the state transport department’s Gatidhara scheme and had enrolled it with an app cab aggregator.

“On Sunday, they left home around 9pm. Saha was very upbeat about the drive and had planned the outing to celebrate the birthday of his mother-in-law. He was an extremely humble person, who loved his family. It’s sad the family met with such a fate,” said a relative outside the hospital on Sunday afternoon.

Saha used to run a transport business and his son was a student of a preparatory school at Salt Lake CA block.

Doctors at the hospital off EM Bypass said both Madhumita and Nabanita were in the ICU and their condition was critical. “Madhumita had several blood clots in her brain, which were removed by a surgery. Nabanita has multiple fractures all over her body,” said a doctor.

The incident took place at Manasha Tala in Uluberia when the car was trying to overtake a truck ahead of it. The impact completely the bonnet, broke the windshield and the kid was flung out of the car.

A witness, however, spoke of police negligence and claimed cops reached the spot at least 20 minutes after the accident. Locals said they made five calls to the cops.

“When I first informed the cops, they said they would be reaching in sometime. I kept standing on the road as the kid and others bled profusely. When I called them again, they told me to wait or carry the bodies on my shoulder,” said Tarun Das, who was cycling to his factory when the accident happened.

Cops, however, dismissed the allegations. “We reached the spot in 5-7 minutes. The man had called just twice,” said

Subhrajit Majumdar

, the inspector in charge of Uluberia police station.

According to initial investigation, Pritam was possibly speeding and trying to overtake a truck that was ahead of it. “We have started a case of rash and negligent driving against the driver, who is already dead. Later, we took all of them to Uluberia State General Hospital where Saha and the kid were declared dead.