A 30-year-old motorcyclist was killed and his pillion rider injured after their bike collided head-on with a car at the crossing of Chowbaga Road and Anandapur Road in Kolkata’s Anandapur area early on Saturday, October 17, police said. The driver of the car allegedly abandoned the vehicle and fled from the scene.
The deceased was identified as Pratyush Panai. The injured passenger was identified as 27-year-old Prasun Kumar, a student at Meghnad Saha Institute whose home is in Godda, Jharkhand. He was admitted to a private hospital near the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass.
According to the police account reported by Anandabazar, the crash occurred shortly after 4am at the Urbana crossing. Pratyush and Prasun were travelling from Chowbaga Road towards Anandapur Road when the motorcycle collided with a black four-wheeler coming from the opposite direction while the bike was taking a turn.
The impact threw Pratyush onto the road and left Prasun injured. Police said neither of the two men was wearing a helmet and that both were allegedly intoxicated at the time of the crash. Pratyush suffered severe head injuries.
People at the location took the injured men to hospital. Pratyush was brought to NRS Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. Prasun was shifted to a private hospital near the bypass for treatment. The report said Pratyush had already died by the time he reached the hospital.
The crash also left the driver’s identity unresolved. The driver reportedly left the black car at the site and escaped after the collision. Police have seized both the damaged car and the motorcycle and are searching for the driver.
The incident brings together three immediate road-safety concerns at a busy urban junction: suspected intoxication, failure to use protective helmets and the conduct of a driver who allegedly fled after a fatal collision. The available report does not state whether the police have identified the car owner or registered specific charges against the driver.
The seized vehicles are expected to form part of the police investigation into the collision, including the direction of travel, the circumstances of the turn and the identities of those involved. Police action to trace the fleeing driver remains the next reported step in the case.
