'Sharp right turn threw child off vehicle'

KOLKATA: A day after the death of the one-and-a-half-year-old Rajdeep Sardar, who was thrown off a speeding auto at Baranagar on Tuesday, police said 'taking a sharp turn at a high speed' could have led to the accident.


"

CCTV

footage shows the speeding auto taking a right turn at Bibek More on AK Mukherjee Road when the toddler fell out. The auto sped towards Noapara seconds after Rajdeep's mother had jumped out to save her son. The

auto driver

Bhola Dutta was booked for rash driving (IPC section279) and causing death due to negligence (304/A) and was produced in the court," a senior officer of Baranagar police station said. Dutta has been remanded to judicial custody for two weeks.

Witnesses said the accident occurred as the auto was speeding."The child landed on his back. We rushed him to Baranagar hospital where he succumbed to his injuries," said Anjan Pal, councillor of Ward 17 of Baranagar municipality.

The incident brought back memories of four-year-old

Dum Dum

girl Adrika Ghoshal, who suffered multiple fractures after falling off a speeding auto a couple of years ago. She was dragged for about 30 metres as the driver refused to stop at Sinthee More near Baranagar.

Residents of the area alleged that auto drivers keep breaking every law in the book with impunity. "They carry more passengers than permitted, play loud music, harass passengers, weaving dangerously through traffic and stop or switching lanes abruptly. Police should be more active in taking stern action against these rogue auto drivers," said Tarun Chakraborty, a Bonhooghly resident.

An INTTUC leader of the local auto drivers' union said around 64 autos ply on the Tobin Road-Noapara route, with 32 slotted for the first shift starting at 6am. "The eight-hour shift ends at 2pm, when another set of autos take over on the nearly 2km stretch," he said. But locals said over 70 autos run on this route, most of which ply on both shifts illegally under the protection of INTTUC leaders.


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