KOLKATA: A scrap between a motorist and a biker followed by a chase on an uneven stretch of road in Salt Lake ended with the death of the 21-year-old biker late on Tuesday night.
The chain of events was sparked off by a collision between a car and a motorbike near GD Island. Following a verbal tiff, the motorist chased the biker for about 500 metres. In a desperate bid to escape, the biker took a sharp turn, skidded on a poorly lit stretch where the road surface had been stripped for upcoming repair work, lost control and fell off suffering fatal injuries.
Local residents who witnessed the biker crash, nabbed the motorist and handed him over to police.
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Officer from Bidhannagar South police station took the biker, Aiyaz Hussain, first to Bidhannagar Sub-divisional Hospital and then to NRS Hospital, where he succumbed to injuries a few hours later. Hussain, a resident of Cossipore off Baranagar, was an app bike driver who had gone to Salt Lake to drop a passenger.
The motorist, 28-year-old Piyush Agarwal, a businessman from FE Block in Salt Lake, was arrested and booked for causing death due to negligence. He was produced before a Salt Lake court on Wednesday and sent to jail custody till March 18.
A senior officer of Bidhannagar Commissionerate said the incident took place around 11.30 pm. “We learnt that the biker initially apologised but then the two started arguing. The biker sped off hurling abuses at the motorist, who began chasing the bike,” he said.
Witnesses said the chase lasted for around 500 m along FE Block with the car coming dangerously close to bumping the bike from behind. “It was evident that the biker was trying to escape the car. He was swerving to avoid getting hit. Both of them were speeding and the motorist was hurling abuses with his windows rolled down,” said Ganesh Das, a resident of FE Block who was sitting outside a temple.
In a bid to get away, the biker turned left towards Canal Side Road when he skidded and fell on the road. “The accident spot is full of gravel as the upper layer has been scraped off for upcoming road repair work. He was wearing a helmet but his face and body grazed the uneven surface, leading to excessive bleeding,” the officer said.
Agarwal stopped at the site but on seeing the profusely bleeding biker tried to turn around and flee but was stopped by locals who thrashed him before handing him over to police.
“It is unclear if Hussain was heading home or was on his way to pick another passenger when the collision happened. We are checking CCTV footage to find out if he skidded on the road or was hit by the car,” the officer said.
Agarwal’s lawyer, Subhajit Das, sought bail citing bad roads as the cause of the accident, but was turned down.
