A bus on route 46 hit and killed three people, including two women, in a road accident on Wednesday night on the Sealdah flyover. Police have taken the driver into custody and seized the bus after filing a complaint under non-bailable sections. Around 1:20 am on Wednesday, six people, including a woman, were strolling along the Vidyapati Setu, also known as the Sealdah flyover, towards Rajabazar.
Aditi Gupta, 18, an Ekbalpore resident, died on spot. Rahul Kumar Prasad, 30, also from Ekbalpore, and Nandini Kumari,15, from Howrah, died in the hospital a few hours later, the police informed.
The same family’s three other members sustained injuries. They were Rishi Gupta, 15, Nilesh Gupta, 15, and Rahat Gupta, all from Ekbalpore. They have been admitted to a hospital with severe injuries.
Rahul worked at a private company that sells mobile phones, while Aditi and Nandini were students. According to a family member, Rahul is survived by his mother, his wife, and a month-old child.
An investigating officer said, “The incident took place around 1:20 am when the bus on Route 46 was heading towards Rajabazar on its way to the airport. By then, the six members of the family were crossing the bridge to the location where their car was parked. Despite shouting and raising hands for the driver Bablu Khan to stop the bus, he did not slow down, mowing down six of them in front of Mala Hotel.”
Bus driver Bablu Khan, conductor Nuruddin Khan and a helper Arman Khan have been arrested. “We have charged them under IPC sections of rash driving, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, also attempt to culpable homicide act endangering life or personal safety of others and causing grievous harm,” DC traffic police, Sunil Yadav stated.
The bus has been seized and will be sent for a mechanical test to determine if there was a snag that caused the accident, the police informed.
