Ex-Trinamool MLA’s SUV collides with e-rickshaw, kills two; plunges into pond

A collision involving Trinamool's former Sandeshkhali MLA Sukumar Mahato’s SUV and an e-rickshaw claimed two lives and left two others severely injured before the SUV careered off the Basanti Highway and plunged into a pond at Boyarmari near Basirhat, North 24-Parganas, on Wednesday afternoon.

The accident occurred around 12.30pm. Residents and bystanders rushed to rescue those trapped in the wreckage.

Police from Rajbari outpost under Nazat police station reached the spot and recovered the bodies.

Former MLA Mahato was not in the SUV when the accident occurred. The condition of the SUV's driver, who managed to escape, remains unclear.

The deceased were Mujibar Rehaman, who was driving the e-rickshaw, and his sister Mahima Biwi. Mujibar’s wife, Mehmuda Biwi, and daughter, Mamtaj Khatun, are critically injured. All lived in Debipur village in Bhangar.

The former MLA, who is a teacher, was at his school.

“I had asked the driver to bring the car to the school where I work because I was supposed to go to Calcutta for treatment later in the day. I have heard that two passenger-laden e-rickshaws were racing each other and my car collided with one of them while trying to overtake it. I do not know how fast my car was moving. I have learnt that two people have died and two others have been injured. I stand by the victims and their family,” Mahato said.

However, local accounts of the sequence of events remained unclear, raising questions about how the collision occurred on a wide stretch of the Basanti Highway.

A senior police officer said: "The police are probing whether reckless driving, speeding, a mechanical fault or other factors contributed to the crash. Statements from eyewitnesses and an examination of the vehicle are expected to help establish the sequence of events."