A 30-year-old man died and his friend was critically injured after their motorcycle collided head-on with a car near Urbana in Kolkata’s Anandapur area early on Saturday, police said. The car driver allegedly fled the scene, leaving the vehicle behind, and officers have launched a search to identify and trace the person.
The crash occurred at around 4am at the junction of Chowbhaga Road and Anandapur Road under Anandapur police station. Police said the two men were travelling along Chowbhaga Road towards Anandapur when their motorcycle collided with an oncoming car while turning towards Anandapur Road. The impact threw both riders from the motorcycle.
The rider, identified as Pratyush Panai, sustained severe head injuries. He was taken to NRS Medical College and Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. His friend, Prasun Kumar, 27, suffered serious injuries and was admitted to Ruby General Hospital, where he is undergoing treatment.
Kumar is a resident of Gandhinagar in Jharkhand’s Godda district and an engineering student at Chowbhaga. Police said he may have been returning to his college hostel when the crash occurred. The circumstances of his movements before the collision are part of the ongoing investigation.
According to a senior Kolkata Police officer, preliminary findings indicated that neither Panai nor Kumar was wearing a helmet. The officer also said both men appeared to have been intoxicated while travelling for pandal-hopping. “It seems both the men were intoxicated. The circumstances leading to the collision are being probed,” the officer said.
The crash highlights the risks faced on Kolkata’s arterial and connecting roads during late-night festive travel, when two-wheelers, private cars and pedestrians share junctions with limited protection for riders. In this case, police said the collision took place at a road junction as the motorcycle turned towards Anandapur Road, but the exact sequence of events remains under investigation.
The alleged failure to wear helmets is also being examined as part of the police inquiry. Helmets are a critical safety barrier for two-wheeler users, particularly in head-on crashes or collisions that throw riders onto the road. Police have not yet identified the car driver or disclosed whether the person has been contacted.
Investigators are continuing efforts to trace the driver and establish the circumstances that led to the collision. The abandoned car has been left at the scene, according to the report, while Kumar remains under treatment at Ruby Hospital.
