KOLKATA: A 78-year-old retired central govt employee, who was an established hockey player and served as a senior functionary at Food Corporation of India (FCI), reportedly lost his life after being hit by a luxury sedan, a BMW, on Thursday morning near Eden Gardens.The accused driver fled immediately, turning it into a classic hit-and-run case, only to abandon the vehicle a little way ahead and flee. Cops from Maidan Police and the Fatal Squad of the Traffic Police department are yet to nab the driver, though details of car ownership have been processed by them.
According to police, victim Subhendu Hazra, a descendant of the Rani Rashmoni family who lived at 13, Rashmoni Road, was a regular at Maidan all his life. Even when he hung up his boots as a hockey player, he had been going for his morning walk for the past 35 years.“It was around 7.55 am when Hazra was trying to cross Indira Gandhi Road towards the Eden Gardens side. The BMW appeared from the CR Das statue end. The driver noticed Hazra and tried to swerve, hoping that he would not cross. However, Hazra suddenly tried to sprint away from the car, and was hit by the BMW in the process. By the time we took him to hospital, he had died,” said an officer.The police said they have studied the CCTV footage that shows the exact sequence of events. “Hazra used to go with a lot of others from the area. He took a neighbour’s car or even the bus. Our neighbour said he would not go on Thursday as his car had broken down. However, Hazra insisted on going there and said he would take a bus. He got off at Akashvani Bhavan and then met with this accident,” said a family member.Cops said the BMW driver realised he might be lynched, and stopped the car near Babughat, where he abandoned it. The right right of the car bore dents. “We have progressed in the probe and we are on the verge of carrying out the arrest,” said an officer. Though the case has been registered at Maidan PS, the case has been taken over by the Fatal Squad of the Traffic wing.Barely eight days ago, at least three persons were injured, two of them seriously, after a Ferrari spiralled out of control, hit a lamp post, and then a roadside tree in the middle of Hospital Road. That incident was reported around 7.40 am. The car had broken apart into two under the impact.Just like the Ferrari accident, Kolkata Police has decided to seek help of engineers from BMW in order to study the exact reasons that led to one of their cars getting involved in this accident.
