Chandernagore: Breaking his silence on why he was driving so fast, Rajdeo Singh, who was at the wheel of Sutandra Chatterjee‘s hatchback, said on Friday that “Madam” had asked him to “chase down” the other vehicle. He was driving at over 100 kmph when the car rammed into a roadside toilet on Rice Mill Road in Panagarh, leading to Sutandra’s death.
Singh on Friday said he now regretted the incident.
Singh, who was employed by the Chatterjees, told reporters on Friday, “That white car (driven by Bablu Yadav) hit our car first. Then Madam told me to chase that vehicle. Madam also instructed me to stop the white vehicle. I was trying to do that and even got closer but could not stop their car. After that, their vehicle left the highway to take a local road. Following Madam’s instructions, I took our car onto the local road. The speed was almost 100 kmph. I could have managed it, but our car overturned after hitting that toilet.”
Singh had earlier claimed that the person at the wheel of the white car and the other occupants had made lewd gestures and hurled abuses at Sutandra. But he now changed his statement and said he “did not notice any such thing”.
Apart from Singh, Sutandra’s business partner Pradip Dutta and colleagues Montu Ghosh and Mintu Mondal were in the car that night. Dutta, Ghosh and Mondal have testified before a judicial magistrate. A section of lawyers said the three did not refer to any harassment incident.
Sutandra’s mother, Tanushree, had told reporters, “I saw in the CCTV footage that our car was trailing the white car. Our car was going at a high speed. I want to know why it was being driven at such a high speed. They could have stopped the car. Why didn’t those in the car ask the driver to stop or slow down?” She had said, “At this stage, I trust no one. Let police bring out the truth.”
