Auto crushes five-year-old's legs

BARRACKPORE: Auto drivers continue to have a free run despite warnings from the government. On Tuesday afternoon, a speeding auto driver hit a five-year-old child on Barrackpore-Barasat Road. But instead of stopping, sped up, crushing the pre-schooler's legs. The auto driver was detained after locals managed to hand him over to Titagarh police. But he was arrested on Wednesday after the child's father lodged a complaint.
The victim, Souvik Ghosh, is undergoing treatment at a nursing home in Tegharia, Baguiati where he might undergo a surgery.
At 3.30pm on Tuesday, Souvik, an upper nursery student of Barrackpore Ramakrishna Vivekananda Mission School, got off the car pool near his house at Barrackpore rail gate No. 14. His mother, Shampa Ghosh, was waiting to receive him.
When the mother-son duo tried to cross the Barrackpore-Barasat route, a speeding auto hit Souvik following which he fell to the ground. But the auto driver, Shankar Santra, allegedly did not bother to stop the auto. Instead, he ran over the child's legs and tried to flee. Souvik's legs were badly injured in the accident. The locals, however, gave the auto a chase and caught Santra. He was taken to the Titagarh police station where he was detained.
Souvik was initially admitted to a private nursing home in Barrackpore and later shifted to another nursing home in Baguiati.
"The auto was being driven recklessly and hit my son when he tried to cross the road. The driver could have stopped after that. But he continued moving forward and ran over his legs. Both his legs were badly injured. The doctors have suggested a surgery," said Shampa.
On Wednesday morning, Souvik's father, Kaushik, a private firm employee, lodged a complaint against Santra at the Titagarh police station. He was arrested later in the day, from his house at Chalkkanthalia in Titagarh.
"We have arrested the accused auto driver on Wednesday on the basis of the complaint lodged by the boy's father. We are probing into the matter," said Subhasis Chowdhury, officer in charge of the Titagarh police station.
This is, however, not the first time that a child has been hit by an auto. On August 16 last year, four-year-old Adrika Ghoshal of Baranagar sustained multiple fractures when an auto driver dragged her for 30 metres after she fell off the vehicle. Though the girl's mother pleaded with the auto driver to stop, he refused.
Within days of this horrifying accident, another four-year-old boy, Raj Kumar Das, was critically injured after an errant auto driver ran over his legs at Sethpukur in Barasat.